 Hee at the2022 Singapore Open | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Terry Hee Yong Kai |
| Born | (1995-07-06)6 July 1995 (age 30) |
| Years active | 2014–present |
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) |
| Weight | 65 kg (143 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Country | Singapore |
| Sport | Badminton |
| Handedness | Right |
| Men's & mixed doubles | |
| Highest ranking | 22 (MD withLoh Kean Hean, 27 December 2022) 13 (XD withJessica Tan, 3 January 2023) |
| Current ranking | 30 (XD withJin Yujia, 30 December 2025) |
| BWF profile | |
Medal record | |
Terry Hee Yong Kai[a]OLY (born 6 July 1995) is a Singaporeanbadminton player.[5] In mixed doubles withJessica Tan, Hee won his first World Tour title at the2022 India Open.[6] Hee together with Jessica Tan also won the gold medal in the mixed doubles event at the2022 Commonwealth Games, a first for Singapore in that discipline at the Games. Hee and his wife, Jessica Tan, were nominated for the Straits Times Singaporean of the Year Award 2022.[7] Terry Hee and Jessica Tan are Singapore's first local-born mixed doubles duo to qualify for the Olympics, and made their debut at the Paris Olympics 2024.[8]
Hee was born in Penang and enrolled in theSingapore Sports School on a scholarship when he was 13.[1][2][3][4][9] He began playing badminton professionally for Singapore in 2014, after going through the youth system at theSingapore Sports School (SBA)'s badminton academy.[6][10]
Hee won the mixed team bronze medal at the2014 Commonwealth Games inGlasgow, Scotland.[11] He was also part of the national team that won the men's team bronze medals at the2015,2017,2019,2021, and the2023 SEA Games.[12] He made his second appearance at theCommonwealth Games inGold Coast 2018.[13]
Hee opened the 2022 season by winning the mixed doubles title at theIndia Open partneringJessica Tan.[6] The duo later captured their second World Tour title of the year by winning theOrléans Masters.[14]
In May 2022, Hee competed at the2021 SEA Games. He won the bronze medals in the men's team and doubles events.[15][16]
At the2022 Commonwealth Games in August, Hee was part of theSingaporean team who won the bronze medal in themixed team events as the Singaporean team defeated England 3–0 at the bronze medal playoff.[17][18] Hee had also competed at theindividual mixed doubles event with his wife, Tan. They won a historic gold medal and Singapore's first Commonwealth Games badminton mixed doubles gold after beating England'sMarcus Ellis andLauren Smith in the final, with a score of 21–16, 21–15 in straight sets.[19]
After crowning as the Commonwealth Games mixed-double champion in 2022, the forms of Hee and Tan dipped. The duo suffered early-round exits in their subsequent tournaments in 2022 and won just three out of nine matches in their first six tournaments of 2023. The 2024 Paris Olympics qualification period began on May 1, 2023. However, the chances of the pair qualifying for the Olympics were slim, as they won only one of their next nine matches.[20] The turnaround came after they started playing in lower-tier tournaments to boost confidence. They clinched second place in theAbu Dhabi Masters (BWF World Tour 100) in October and won theIris Open, a BWF international challenge tournament in November. They ended 2023 with another two silverware from BWF World Tour 100 events: winning theGuwahati Masters and making the final of Odisha Masters. The haul of points from these tournaments significantly improved their chance to qualify for the Olympics.[20]
In 2024, Hee and Tan started the year strong by making it into the semi-final of Malaysia Open, a BWF World Tour 1000 event. However, since then, second-round appearances were their best in all subsequent tournaments until the end of the 2024 Paris Olympics qualification period. They ranked 18th on the BWF Race to Paris rankings on April 30, 2024, and thus missed out on the automatic qualification spots. There were only 16 slots for the doubles at the Paris Olympics. Only the first 13 eligible pairs were allocated slots via the Race to Paris rankings, while the remaining three spots were given to the continental champions of America, Africa and Oceania.[21]
Fortunately, Hee and Tan received a lifeline after Australia, which had qualified in four badminton events, elected to take up the slots in the women’s singles and women’s doubles, thus freeing up a mixed doubles spot for Hee and Tan, the next eligible pair in the rankings. They became the first local-born mixed doubles duo from Singapore to qualify for the Olympic Games.[22]In thebadminton mixed-double events in the 2024 Paris Olympics, Hee and Tan were assigned to Group D together with Feng Yanzhe / Huang Dongping of China (2nd seed), Chen Tang Jie / Toh Ee Wei from Malaysia, and the American pair of Vinson Chiu / Jennie Gai. Hee and Tan played Chen and Toh in the opening match but lost 23–21 and 21–12. Up against China’s world no. 2 pair Feng and Huang next, the duo could not overcome their rivals, losing 21-13, 21-17, thus missing out on the quarter-finals[23] Hee and Tan ended their Olympics campaign with a win though as they beat United States’ Chiu and Gai, 21–17, 21–12 in the last group fixture.
Post-Olympics, Hee and Tan continued to contest in major World Tour tournaments, but all ended with 1st round exits. While competing in theMacau Open, where they were seeded second, their campaign was abruptly halted in the first round against Ye Hong Wei and Nicole Chan (Chinese Taipei). Tan suffered a hamstring injury amid the second set, and the duo had to retire.[24]
It was announced in November 2024 that Hee would form a new partnership withJin Yujia, as Jessica Tan had not fully recovered from her injuries and was not sufficiently competition-fit.[25] The Hee-Jin partnership had a promising start in their first competition by reaching the semi-finals ofGuwahati Masters. A week later, they made it into the final at theOdisha Masters but fell 15-21, 21-15, 21-15 in 54 minutes to China’s Gao Jiaxuan and Tang Ruizhi to finish runners-up..[26] Finally, In only their third competition together, Hee and Jin succeeded in capturing their first title together at theBangladesh International Challenge beating India’s Bokka Navaneeth and Ritika Thaker 21-14, 21-16 in the final.[27]
The Hee-Jin partnership ended in 2025, as they failed to reach the last 16 in 15 tournaments and were eliminated in the quarter-finals at the SEA Games 2025. Hee started forming a multi-national mixed doubles pairing with Gloria Widjaja, a former world junior champion from Indonesia, to compete on the BWF World Tour .[28]
Hee married fellow Singaporean shuttlerJessica Tan in October, 2021. They had often partnered at mixed doubles tournaments since the start of Hee's professional career.[29] Their victory at the 2021 Czech Open, defeating Russians Lev Barinov and Anastasiia Boiarun, was their first tournament as a married duo.[29] They were made HSBC Life Singapore's first brand ambassadors in 2023. In 2024, Singlife committed to a sponsorship deal with the couple upon their Olympic qualification.[30]
Hee and Jessica Tan were nominated for the 2022 ST Athlete of the Year Award.[31] They were also conferred the Team of the Year (Event) award in the Singapore Sports Awards 2023 by the Singapore National Olympic Council.[32]
Mixed doubles
| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, England |  Jessica Tan |  Marcus EllisLauren Smith | 21–16, 21–15 |  Gold | [19] |
Men's doubles
| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Bac Giang Gymnasium, Bắc Giang, Vietnam | Loh Kean Hean |  Pramudya KusumawardanaYeremia Rambitan | 21–15, 17–21, 19–21 |  Bronze | [16] |
The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,[33] is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by theBadminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tours are divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300 (part of the HSBC World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100.[34]
Mixed doubles
| Year | Tournament | Level | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | India Open | Super 500 | Jessica Tan |  Chen Tang JiePeck Yen Wei | 21–15, 21–18 |  Winner | [6] |
| 2022 | Orléans Masters | Super 100 | Jessica Tan | Rehan Naufal KusharjantoLisa Ayu Kusumawati | 21–12, 16–21, 21–13 | Winner | [14] |
| 2023 | Abu Dhabi Masters | Super 100 | Jessica Tan |  Mads VestergaardChristine Busch | 22–20, 17–21, 18–21 |  Runner-up | |
| 2023 | Guwahati Masters | Super 100 | Jessica Tan | Mads Vestergaard Christine Busch | 21–19, 21–11 | Winner | |
| 2023 | Odisha Masters | Super 100 | Jessica Tan |  Dhruv KapilaTanisha Crasto | 21–17, 19–21, 21–23 | Runner-up | |
| 2024 | Odisha Masters | Super 100 | Jin Yujia |  Gao JiaxuanTang Ruizhi | 21–15, 15–21, 15–21 | Runner-up |
Men's doubles
| Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Vietnam International | Hendra Wijaya |  Lu Ching-yaoTien Tzu-chieh | 13–21, 21–14, 21–23 | Runner-up |
| 2015 | Singapore International | Loh Kean Hean | HardiantoKenas Adi Haryanto | 13–21, 21–16, 21–19 | Winner |
| 2017 | Nepal International | Danny Bawa Chrisnanta | Ian Wong Jien SernTan Chee Tean | 22–20, 14–21, 21–16 | Winner |
| 2018 | South Australia International | Danny Bawa Chrisnanta |  Akira KogaTaichi Saito | 11–21, 21–19, 16–21 | Runner-up |
| 2018 | Sydney International | Danny Bawa Chrisnanta | Hiroki OkamuraMasayuki Onodera | 6–21, 11–21 | Runner-up |
| 2018 | Singapore International | Danny Bawa Chrisnanta |  Yonny ChungTam Chun Hei | 21–13, 18–21, 19–21 | Runner-up |
| 2021 | Dutch Open | Loh Kean Hean | Tan Kian MengTan Wee Kiong | 21–14, 18–21, 22–20 | Winner |
| 2021 | Czech Open | Loh Kean Hean | Man Wei ChongTee Kai Wun | 13–21, 21–15, 21–15 | Winner |
Mixed doubles
| Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Singapore International | Jessica Tan | Loh Kean HeanDellis Yuliana | 21–19, 19–21, 21–14 | Winner |
| 2014 | Malaysia International | Jessica Tan | Hafiz FaizalShella Devi Aulia | 21–19, 19–21, 18–21 | Runner-up |
| 2015 | Bangladesh International | Jessica Tan | Tan Wee GieenShevon Jemie Lai | 21–10, 19–21, 21–12 | Winner |
| 2016 | Smiling Fish International | Jessica Tan | Wong Fai Yin Shevon Jemie Lai | 21–16, 21–17 | Winner |
| 2016 | Hungarian International | Jessica Tan |  Paweł PietryjaAneta Wojtkowska | 11–6, 11–7, 13–11 | Winner |
| 2018 | South Australia International | Citra Putri Sari Dewi | Kohei GondoAyane Kurihara | 22–20, 21–18 | Winner |
| 2021 | Czech Open | Jessica Tan |  Lev BarinovAnastasiia Boiarun | 21–18, 21–12 | Winner |
| 2023 | Irish Open | Jessica Tan | Gregory MairsJenny Mairs | 21–17, 18–21, 21–15 | Winner |
| 2024 | Bangladesh International | Jin Yujia | Bokka NavaneethRitika Thaker | 21–14, 21–16 | Winner |
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