Kho Sin-Kie

Kho Sin-Khie

Kho Sin-Kie (second from left) in Poland
Country (sports)	Republic of China
Born	(1912-09-02)2 September 1912 Banyumas Regency, Dutch East Indies
Died	31 January 1947(1947-01-31) (aged 34) London, United Kingdom
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Turned pro	1929 (amateur tour)
Retired	1947 (due to death)
Singles
Grand Slam Singles results
French Open	4R (1936)
Wimbledon	4R (1938)
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
French Open	3R (1936)

Kho Sin-Khie (Chinese: 许承基; pinyin: Xu Chengji, Mandarin pronunciation: [xǔ tʂʰəŋ˧˥tɕi˥˩]; September 2, 1912 – January 31, 1947) was an Indonesian-born tennis player who represented the Republic of China in the Davis Cup. He was from the Peranakan Chinese ethnic group. He was the first Chinese player ever to win a major international tournament. He won twice the British Hard Court Championships and the Surrey Grass Court Championships on one occasion. He was a Swiss, Italian and Swedish champion as well.

Kho was born and raised in Java to a poor family in an eggplant farm where his father, Han Ting was the head of the village. He had three brothers and three sisters. After he had been dropped out of school he started playing tennis at the age of 14, while working in a sports equipment store. In the early years he had troubles to make his father understand his admiration for the game. In 1929 he won the Central Java Tennis Championship. In 1932 his parents died. He won the All-Java Championship in 1933. In 1933 he won the Chinese national championships topping Qiufei Hai of Shanghai. In 1935 he became the Chinese national champion for the second time after beating compatriot Khoo Hooi Hye and subsequently was named the top Chinese player. Local people raised money for him to support his post-graduate education in Switzerland. In 1936 he arrived to Great Britain to attend college and in the mean time he was offered a job at the Chinese Embassy. He studied commerce in London. Later he was sponsored by the Dunlop Rubber Company.