Insook Bhushan (born Na In-Sook; February 17, 1952) is a South Korea-born American table tennis player. She was a member of the South Korean women's team that won the bronze medal at the 1971 World Championships. At the 1973 World Championships, she was limited to the role of "non-playing captain" of the gold medal-winning South Korean women's team. In 1974, she emigrated to the United States, where her father had established an import-export business.[1] The following year, she married the architect Shekhar Bhushan and in 1980 became a US citizen.[2]
| Insook Bhushan | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Insook Bhushan |
| Nationality |  United States |
| Born | February 17, 1952 Seoul, South Korea |
Table tennis career | |
| Playing style | Shakehand, defensive |
Medal record | |
| Insook Na Bhushan | |
| Hangul | 나인숙 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Na In-suk |
| McCune–Reischauer | Na In-suk |
Between 1976 and 1991, Bhushan dominated the US National Championships, winning the title in women's singles 11 times, women's doubles 11 times, and mixed doubles 8 times.[3] In 1977, she won the women's singles title at the US Open.[4]
Bhushan returned to her birthplace for the 1988 Olympics, where she competed in women's singles and women's doubles.[5] She also competed in women's singles at the 1992 Olympics and represented the United States in 6 World Championships. She participated in 3 Pan American Games, winning 8 gold medals (including 3 consecutive gold medals in women's singles) and 1 silver medal.
Bhushan retired from competition after the 1992 Olympics and was inducted into the USATT Hall of Fame in 1993.[6]
Bhushan has a degree in accounting from the University of Colorado Denver[7] and works as an accountant in the Colorado Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.[8] She has two sons, Austin (born in 1980) and Kevin (born in 1985).
References
edit- ^ Myslenski, Skip "Journey To Seoul Has Special Meaning For This Athlete", Chicago Tribune, June 13, 1988
- ^ Hummer, Steve "An Asian Divided: American Table Tennis Player Was Born In Korea, But She Doesn`t See It Like A Native", SunSentinel, September 21, 1988
- ^ "US National Champions". Archived from the original on January 4, 2014.
- ^ "US Open Champions". Archived from the original on January 21, 2014.
- ^ Vecsey, George "America's Best in Table Tennis Goes Home Again", New York Times, September 26, 1988
- ^ "USATT Hall of Fame Profile". Archived from the original on December 23, 2013. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
- ^ Rognstad, Aaron "Former US table tennis national champion paddles numbers" Archived 2014-02-04 at the Wayback Machine, Colorado National Guard Public Affairs, April 8, 2010
- ^ "Department of Military and Veterans Affairs Staff Directory". Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
Other sources
edit- "BHUSHAN-NA In Sook (USA)". ITTF.com. International Table Tennis Federation. Archived from the original on February 19, 2014.
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Insook Bhushan". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on September 22, 2013.
