Chris Jogis

Men's Singles-1985, 86, 88, 90-92

Doubles-1987, 88, 89 ,90

Mixed Doubles-1987, 88

Olympic Games-1992

PRESENTED BY JAMES POOLE:

It is my pleasure to introduce another 2003 Walk of Fame recipient, Chris Jogis. Chris is one of, if not the best, left handed player this country has ever produced.

Chris started his badminton career as a junior in the San Jose/Palo Alto area of Northern California under the tutelage of Len Hill who has also had a couple of other great juniors, Benny Lee and Rodney Barton, who went on to good adult careers.

Chris has had an outstanding record in the U.S. National Championships -- winning the singles six times, Men's Doubles on four and Mixed Doubles on two for a total of 14 titles. In addition, Chris participated in the World Championships on four different occasions, reaching the round of 16 in Men's Doubles in 1985. He also participated in the prestigious All England Open Championships on six different occasions.

Chris was also on 4 Thomas Cup teams but he has indicated that one of his greatest accomplishments was qualifying for the Olympics in 1992 where he reached the round of 32 in singles. He is also proud of having represented the USA in more than 40 worldwide events in 36 countries.

On a personal level, Chris is married and he and his wife Amy have a little girl (Kimberly) with another little one due in late May of this year. He lives in Larchmont, NY, and has worked for Pepsi Cola in their Marketing Department for the last 3 1/2 years. Chris attended and graduated from the Kellogg Business School at Northeastern University shortly after he finished the Olympics in 1992.

From my perspective, I got to know Chris on a 5-week Badminton trip to Fiji/New Zealand in 1985 where we played several matches together in Men's Doubles. It has always distressed me that Chris could not raise his level to carry me to victory in more of these matches against the New Zealanders. On that trip, all of the players stayed with New Zealand players to cut down on the cost of the trip, and I can still remember Chris "griping" about having to stay with younger players who sometimes left their windows open at night when the outside air was about 30 degrees. It was also one of the few occasions that I played in non-heated Badminton halls with the outside air at 30 as we were down there in their Winter.

I did see Chris again a few years ago in New York at the NFL office where I was working part time and Chris was working in Marketing for NFL Properties.

Well, enough reminiscing; let's welcome Chris Jogis, a very deserving recipient of the Walk of Fame honors for 2003.