Chris Kinard (1950-present) is a retired American badminton player who was a top
Men’s Singles player, winning the U.S. National Championships title six
times, and played on five Thomas Cup teams representing the U.S.
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Stan Bischof.
Chris was born in Pasadena, sharing his birthday with his twin brother, Craig. He started playing badminton as a junior player at the Pasadena Badminton Club. He took two U.S. Junior Nationals 19 and Under Boys’ Doubles titles with Mike Walker in 1967 and 1968. He graduated from UCLA, and won the triple crown at the National Collegiate Men’s Badminton Championships in 1977, MS, MD, and the national team title.
His adult career speaks for itself:
In 1973, Chris was invited by the Indonesian Badminton Association to train with the Indonesian World Championship Team. He married Utami Dewi in 1977, the sister of Rudy Hartono. She was an outstanding athlete herself, having won the Indonesian National WS Championship 4 times as well as the U.S. WS Championship and other titles. In 1980, Chris reached the round of 16 in the World’s MS Championships held in Jakarta. In 1980, he was ranked #9 in the World MS rankings. He played in Canada, Denmark, England, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Taiwan, and Thailand.
One of his most unique experiences was being the only badminton player to be included in the World Rackets Championships. This event consisted of each athlete playing all the sports represented which included John McEnroe for tennis, as well as champions of other racquet sports.
Chris and Utami hosted Badminton’s Night of Champions July 30, 1981, at Ambassador College in Pasadena. Eight players who were World Champions or Champion of their own country including Rudy Hartono, Prakash Padukone, Liem Swie King, Morten Frost, Charlie Coakley, and Chris played matches before 1500 spectators. It was comparable to a World Championships and drew glowing praise for the skill level of the players and the high quality of the matches.
Chris was selected for the Ken Davidson Award in 1978, and was inducted into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame in 1986. He was inducted into the USA Badminton Walk of Fame in 2003, and the Pasadena Sports Hall of Fame in 2019. Chris is a businessman, and he and Utami have a daughter and son. His badminton heroes were Joe Alston and Wynn Rogers. He was always a gentleman on court, a good sport, and a humble winner.
Chris was a top U.S. player with an outstanding record, but he also contributed to the game by running international tournaments, giving countless exhibitions over the years, and devoting countless hours to coaching junior players.
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