Soo Yeon Lee
{{Short description|South Korean model and table tennis player}}
{{Distinguish|Lee So-yeon (disambiguation){{!}}Lee So-yeon}}
{{Infobox model
| name = Soo Yeon Lee
| image = Soo Yeon Lee.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = Lee in 2012
| native_name = 이수연
| native_name_lang = Korean
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1984|05|22}}
| birth_place = Busan, South Korea
| death_date =
| death_place =
| death_cause =
| residence =
| nationality = South Korean
| other_names =
| citizenship =
| alma_mater =
| occupation = {{hlist|Table tennis player|model|actress|coach}}
| years_active =
| known_for =
| spouse =
| partner =
| children =
| parents =
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| height = 175 cm
| hair_color = Black
| eye_color = Brown
| agency =
| module = {{Infobox Korean name|child=yes
| hangul = 이수연
| hanja =
| rr = I Suyeon
| mr = I Suyŏn
| koreanipa = [i.su.jʌn]}}
| website = {{URL|sooyeonlee.com}}}}
Soo Yeon Lee ({{langx|ko|이수연}}, born May 22, 1984) is a South Korean model, actress, coach, and former table tennis player.
Lee started playing table tennis at a very early age and was also trained extensively in the sport by an Olympic gold medalist Jung Hwa Hyun in South Korea. Soon thereafter she went on to successively win the Korean National Junior Championship six times since the age of 12. She has been featured in advertisement campaigns for a number of prominent brands including Nike, Adidas, K-Swiss, Red Bull, and Target. She is the brand ambassador for SPiN, a chain of table tennis restaurants and bars.
Early life and table tennis career
File:Soo Yeon Lee by Eric Longden Table Tennis 2.jpg
Lee was born in Busan, where she began playing table tennis at the age of nine{{cite journal |author= |title=Soo Yeon Lee: Table tennis has helped launch my career |url=http://www.usatt.net/magazine/11jul-aug/JULY-soo.pdf |journal=USA Table Tennis Magazine |publisher=USATT |issue=July/August |year=2011 |page=48 |access-date=May 7, 2016 }} and was competing six months after that.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}} She won her first National Junior Championship at the age of 12. Soon after Lee left home to receive extensive training under the world champion Lee Ailesa, at the Korean National Training Center. She later trained under the supervision of Olympic Gold Medalist Hyun Jung-hwa. Lee won 5 more Korean National Junior championships, followed by three wins in Korean national tournaments.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}
Lee enrolled in Korea National Sport University where she was coached by Ahn Jae-hyung and joined the national team. In 2001, Lee was a member of the silver medal winning South Korean team at the World University Championships in Beijing. While studying at the university, Lee earned degrees in sports psychology and physical education.{{cite web |url=http://old.ittf.com/stories/Stories_detail.asp?ID=27762 |title=Soo Yeon Lee First Team Choice for Los Angeles Celebrity Tournament |last1=Marshall |first1=Ian |date=April 30, 2012 |website=ITTF News |publisher=International Table Tennis Federation |access-date=May 7, 2016 }}{{dead link|date=February 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite web |url=http://www.lasplash.com/publish/Entertainment/cat_index_worldwide_entertainment/soo-yeon-bio-and-interview.php |title=Soo Yeon Bio and Interview – The Woman of Many Talents |last1=Schmotolocha |first1=Christina |date=July 30, 2012 |website=LA Splash Magazine |publisher=Splash Magazines Worldwide |access-date=May 7, 2016 }}
In 2004, Lee decided to move to New Zealand to learn English. Lee won the New Zealand Women’s Singles Championship and she was named New Zealand Female Sportsperson of the Year. After 5 months in New Zealand, Lee returned to South Korea.{{Cite episode |title=Soo Yeon Lee on Morning Wide talk show |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rlm3tkwqV_I |access-date= May 7, 2016 |series=모닝 와이드 (Morning Wide) |station=KBS1 |date=Feb 26, 2013 |language=ko}}
Lee's moved to the United States in 2007 while her sister was studying in Chicago, Illinois. Lee moved to Los Angeles, California where she enrolled in UCLA. She won several tournaments in the United States, including the US Open in 2007, and Killerspin Invitational in 2009.
Modeling and acting
File:Soo Yeon Lee by Eric Longden Table Tennis 4.png
Lee was discovered by modeling agents in Los Angeles soon after she moved to L.A. in 2007, but she started working as model professionally in 2009. It was not until 2009, however, that her modeling career began to integrate her table tennis skills. In 2009, Lee attended the opening of Susan Sarandon's first table tennis club SPiN in New York City. She later appeared with Sarandon on The Jay Leno Show{{Cite episode |title=Susan Sarandon |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx5j-pH_84E |access-date=May 8, 2016 |series=The Jay Leno Show |network=NBC |date=December 7, 2009 |season=1 |number=59 }}{{cite web |url=http://movieline.com/2009/12/08/jay-leno-and-susan-sarandon-watch-ping-pong-champ-wipe-out-in-jay-leno-show-production-disaster-vide/ |title=Jay Leno and Susan Sarandon Watch Scantily Clad Ping-Pong Champ Wipe Out: VIDEO |last1=Miller |first1=Julie |date= December 8, 2009|website=Movieline |publisher=PMC |access-date=May 8, 2016 }} and has since been a brand ambassador for the company as it has expanded to other locations.{{cite web |url=http://newyork.wearespin.com/squad/soo-yeon-lee/ |title=Soo Yeon Lee |author= |website=SPiN |publisher=SPiN Global |access-date= May 27, 2017}}{{cite AV media |people=Marquez, Miguel|date=January 31, 2014 |title=Super Bowl Ads: Unlikely stars take on ping-pong mania |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30WtpKfojFs |access-date=May 18, 2016 |publisher=CNN }} Lee has worked for a number of other clients including Nike, Adidas, K-Swiss, Red Bull, Playboy, and Target.{{cite web |url=http://sooyeonlee.com/photos/ |title=Photos |last1=Lee |first1=Soo Yeon |access-date=May 7, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416100739/http://sooyeonlee.com/photos/ |archive-date=April 16, 2016 }}{{cite news |last1=Sanchez Sandoval |first1=Edgar |date=December 14, 2014 |title=Soo Yeon Lee, la jugadora de ping-pong más "hot" del mundo |trans-title=Soo Yeon Lee, the hottest ping-pong player in the world |url=https://www.publimetro.com.mx/mx/publisport/2014/12/14/soo-yeon-lee-jugadora-ping-pong-mas-hot-mundo.html |newspaper=Publimetro Mexico|language=es |access-date=May 27, 2017 }}
In addition to Lee's modeling work, she has also acted, including in an episode of Entourage, Keeping Up with the Kardashians,{{cite news |last=Wightman |first=Catriona |date=July 15, 2013 |title=Kardashians: Ping pong, jealousy and black toilet paper - week 7 recap |url=http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/news/a498366/kardashians-ping-pong-jealousy-and-black-toilet-paper-week-7-recap/ |newspaper=Digital Spy |access-date=May 8, 2016 }} Cross Wars,{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3592904/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm|title=Cross Wars (2017) - Full Cast & Crew|publisher=IMdb|access-date=July 11, 2017}} and other films.
Coaching
Lee is a USA Table Tennis certified coach. In addition to competitive players, she has coached a number of celebrities including Oliver Stone, Jamie Foxx, Susan Sarandon, Reggie Miller, as well as John Stamos, and Kevin Dillon for the Entourage TV series.{{cite news |last=Lee |first=Yoo-jin |date=February 28, 2011 |title=탁구선수 겸 코치에서 세계적인 모델 되기까지 이수연의 인생 역전 |trans-title=Soo Yeon Lee, table tennis player and coach reverses her life as a global model |url=http://m.lady.khan.co.kr/view.html?med_id=lady&artid=201102281555191 |language=ko |newspaper=Lady Kyunghyang |access-date=May 7, 2016 }}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{Commons-inline}}
- {{IMDb name | id= 4004252}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Soo Yeon}}
Category:South Korean female table tennis players
Category:South Korean female models
Category:Sportspeople from Busan
Category:FISU World University Games silver medalists for South Korea
Category:Summer World University Games medalists in table tennis