Choi Young-ja
# Choi Young-ja

Choi Young-ja (born 30 May 1975) is a former professional tennis player from South Korea.

## Biography

A right-handed player from Seoul, Choi began playing tennis at the age of 10. She won her first ITF tournament at Bangkok in 1993 and began touring professionally after graduating from high school in 1994.

At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta she made the second round of the singles competition, with a win over South Africa's Joannette Kruger, before she was eliminated by 11th seed Brenda Schultz-McCarthy of the Netherlands.

Choi represented the South Korea Fed Cup team in a total of 16 ties. She was most successful in Fed Cup tennis as a doubles player, losing only one of her 12 matches. In singles she won three rubbers, one of which was against Li Na in 1999.

She won the women's doubles gold medal at the 2002 Asian Games and was also a bronze medalist in the team competition.

## ITF finals

### Singles (8-12)

* Legend
* $50,000 tournaments
* $25,000 tournaments
* $10,000 tournaments

| Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in final | Score in final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Winner | 1. | 28 November 1993 | Bangkok, Thailand | Hard | Jeon Mi-ra | 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 |
| Winner | 2. | 30 January 1994 | Bandung, Indonesia | Hard | Kim Soon-mi | 7-6, 6-1 |
| Winner | 3. | 29 May 1994 | Nanjing, China | Hard | Li Yan-ling | 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 |
| Runner-up | 4. | 6 June 1994 | Seoul, South Korea | Hard | Kim Eun-ha | 3–6, 5–7 |
| Runner-up | 5. | 21 May 1995 | Beijing, China | Hard | Wen Yuan | 6-4, 6-4 |
| Runner-up | 6. | 28 May 1995 | Beijing, China | Hard | Li Li | 2–6, 3–6 |
| Runner-up | 7. | 4 June 1995 | Seoul, South Korea | Hard | Kim Eun-ha | 2–6, 2–6 |
| Runner-up | 8. | 17 March 1996 | Taipei, Chinese Taipei | Hard | Weng Tzu-ting | 1-6, 6-3, 4-6 |
| Winner | 9. | 24 March 1996 | Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei | Hard | Christiane Hofmann | 1–6, 6–1, 6–3 |
| Winner | 10. | 31 March 1996 | Jakarta, Indonesia | Hard | Cho Yoon-jeong | 6–2, 6–1 |
| Runner-up | 11. | 1 April 1996 | Jakarta, Indonesia | Hard | Saori Obata | 2-6, 2-6 |
| Runner-up | 12. | 6 May 1996 | Seoul, South Korea | Clay | Kim Eun-ha | 6–2, 2–6, 3–6 |
| Runner-up | 13. | 23 March 1997 | Noda, Japan | Hard | Kerry-Anne Guse | 6-0, 4-6, 2-6 |
| Runner-up | 14. | 6 April 1997 | Jakarta, Indonesia | Hard | Cho Yoon-jeong | 4-6, 1-6 |
| Winner | 15. | 13 April 1997 | Jakarta, Indonesia | Hard | Cho Yoon-jeong | 6-1, 7-5 |
| Runner-up | 16. | 28 March 1999 | Seoul, South Korea | Clay | Choi Jin-young | 6–4, 4–6, 1–6 |
| Winner | 17. | 21 November 1999 | Haibara, Japan | Carpet | Kumiko Iijima | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Runner-up | 18. | 27 February 2000 | Jakarta, Indonesia | Hard | Chae Kyung-yee | 6–1, 3–6, 1–6 |
| Winner | 19. | 11 June 2000 | Incheon, South Korea | Hard | Chung Yang-jin | 6-1, 6-2 |
| Runner-up | 20. | 13 August 2000 | Nonthaburi, Thailand | Hard | Jeon Mi-ra | 1-6, 3-6 |

### Doubles (12-12)

| Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponent | Score |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Runner-up | 1. | 23 May 1994 | Beijing, China | Hard | Choi Ju-yeon | Bi Ying Li Li | 6-7, 7-6, 4-6 |
| Winner | 2. | 29 May 1994 | Nanjing, China | Hard | Choi Ju-yeon | Jeon Mi-ra Yoo Kyung-sook | 6-2, 6-3 |
| Runner-up | 3. | 29 May 1995 | Seoul, South Korea | Hard | Choi Jin | Kim Ih-sook Kim Eun-ha | 4-6, 5-7 |
| Winner | 4. | 18 March 1996 | Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei | Hard | Kum Ok-im | Nao Akahori Keiko Ishida | 5-7, 1-6 |
| Runner-up | 5. | 5 May 1996 | Seoul, South Korea | Hard | Benjamas Sangaram | Catherine Barclay Kerry-Anne Guse | 1-6, 2-6 |
| Runner-up | 6. | 23 March 1997 | Noda, Japan | Hard | Jeon Mi-ra | Yuko Hosoki Keiko Nagatomi | 2-6, 2-6 |
| Runner-up | 7. | 5 May 1997 | Seoul, South Korea | Clay | Park Sung-hee | Cho Yoon-jeong Kim Eun-ha | 3–6, $6–7^{(6)}$ |
| Winner | 8. | 4 August 1997 | Jakarta, Indonesia | Clay | Kim Eun-ha | Kerry-Anne Guse Kristine Kunce | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Winner | 9. | 15 September 1997 | Taipei, Taiwan | Hard | Kim Eun-ha | Kerry-Anne Guse Catherine Barclay | 1–6, 6–4, 6–3 |
| Runner-up | 10. | 18 October 1998 | Seoul, South Korea | Clay | Catherine Barclay | Shinobu Asagoe Kirstin Freye | 2-6, 6-7 |
| Winner | 11. | 28 March 1999 | Seoul, South Korea | Clay | Kim Eun-sook | Tomoe Hotta Hiroko Mochizuki | 6-4, 7-5 |
| Runner-up | 12. | 9 May 1999 | Seoul, South Korea | Clay | Kim Eun-sook | Samantha Schoeffel Iroda Tulyaganova | 3–6, 6–4, 4–6 |
| Runner-up | 13. | 21 November 1999 | Haibara, Japan | Carpet | Kim Eun-sook | Maki Arai Kumiko Iijima | 2-6, 0-6 |
| Runner-up | 14. | 20 February 2000 | Jakarta, Indonesia | Hard | Kim Eun-sook | Yayuk Basuki Irawati Iskandar | 5–7, 5–7 |
| Winner | 15. | 18 June 2000 | Seoul, South Korea | Hard | Kim Eun-sook | Chae Kyung-yee Chang Kyung-mi | 6–0, 6–0 |
| Runner-up | 16. | 13 August 2000 | Nonthabuiri, Thailand | Hard | Kim Eun-sook | Jeon Mi-ra Chae Kyung-yee | 3–6, 2–6 |
| Winner | 17. | 20 August 2000 | Nonthabuiri, Thailand | Hard | Kim Eun-sook | Jeon Mi-ra Chae Kyung-yee | 1–6, 6–1, 6–1 |
| Runner-up | 18. | 10 June 2001 | Hilton Head, United States | Hard | Jeon Mi-ra | Kristy Blumberg Karin Miller | 4–6, $6–7^{(1)}$ |
| Winner | 19. | 17 June 2001 | Mount Pleasant, United States | Hard | Jeon Mi-ra | Jane Chi Lioudmila Skavronskaia | $6–7^{(2)},$ 6–2, 6–2 |
| Winner | 20. | 24 June 2001 | Easton, United States | Hard | Jeon Mi-ra | Kristy Blumberg Karin Miller | 6-1, 6-1 |
| Winner | 21. | 16 September 2001 | Seoul, South Korea | Hard | Kim Eun-sook | Rika Hiraki Kim Eun-ha | 6–3, 6–3 |
| Winner | 22. | 25 February 2002 | New Delhi, India | Hard | Kim Eun-ha | Eva Birnerová Jana Hlaváčková | $6–7^{(4)},$ 6–4, 6–3 |
| Runner-up | 23. | 2 June 2002 | Tianjin, China | Hard (i) | Choi Jin-young | Chan Chin-wei Tong Ka-po | 3–6, 6–3, 1–6 |
| Winner | 24. | 22 July 2002 | Incheon, South Korea | Hard | Kim Mi-ok | Kim Eun-sook Cho Eun-hye | 6–2, 6–4 |
