I have been wondering why Ra started to play doubles in the middle 90s. She was among the world's top singles and had won a few titles before that. Was she viewed as less promising than other Korean LS players?
Well, Bang Su-hyun was the top player when she won Olympic gold in '96 but she retired a year or two later. Kim Kyungnan was Korea's best around 2000 but I don't know when she came on the scene. You're right. I didn't realize that but Ra was #4 in the world at the end of '94 according to the IBF site. She was the second of four Korean women in May '95. I don't know. Maybe she and Park Joo-bong were a scratch pair in mixed in '96 and the silver medal convinced her to stick with it. I have no idea. Many of the Korean players play all the events when they're young and some when they're old in domestic events. Yim Bang-eun plays singles regularly. Lee Jae-jin played singles in the last domestic tournament and Lee Hyun-il played doubles in the Korean nationals last November. With the women it seems even more common. When economet sees the thread, we'll likely get some more enlightening information.
