In this biography
Quick facts
- Born
- 15 March 1999
- Birthplace
- Yangon, Myanmar
- Country
- Myanmar
- Nationality
- Burmese
- Known for
- Representing Myanmar in women’s singles at the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympics
- Event
- Women’s singles
- Olympic appearances
- Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024
- Flag bearer
- Tokyo opening; Paris opening and closing
- 2019 titles by June
- Uganda, Kenya and Mauritius
Why this life matters
Thet Htar Thuzar’s two Olympic appearances connect Myanmar’s domestic badminton programme to continental training and an international singles circuit.
Timeline
Key moments
Born in Yangon
Born on 15 March.
Played regional competition
Badminton Asia lists her in the 2011, 2013 and 2017 SEA Games.
Won in Egypt
Claimed the Egypt International Series while beginning to build a wider tour record.
Won three series titles by June
Added titles in Uganda, Kenya and Mauritius on the road toward Olympic qualification.
Debuted at the Olympics
Played women’s singles and carried Myanmar’s flag at Tokyo 2020.
Returned at Paris 2024
Played women’s singles and served as both opening and closing flag bearer.
Played the Asian team championships
Represented Myanmar against India in the women’s team group stage.
A badminton family and a wider circuit
Thet Htar Thuzar grew up in a badminton family in Yangon. Badminton Asia identifies both parents, Tun Tun Zaw and Win Pa Pa Tun, as former Myanmar internationals and her father as a coach. Its 2019 profile says she began playing at seven and competed in the 2011, 2013 and 2017 Southeast Asian Games. Those regional appearances preceded her sustained international tournament campaign; they should not be collapsed into a single 2013 debut.
She told Badminton Asia that she began entering international events toward the end of 2017 after an Indonesian coach encouraged her to pursue Olympic qualification. A title at the Egypt International Series followed in 2018. In 2019 the continental body reported three further international-series wins, in Uganda, Kenya and Mauritius, after business studies in Yangon. These were circuit titles, not Olympic or world-championship medals. The distinction explains how she built experience and ranking points before her first Olympic entry.
Tokyo qualification and the Asia Olympic Project
Badminton Asia’s Asia Olympic Project offered training camps and other support to players from developing badminton nations. The governing body named Thuzar among four participants from the programme who qualified for the postponed Tokyo 2020 Games, held in 2021. In its pre-Games interview she described a multi-year effort to reach the Olympic field and said she continued training with her father after her Indonesian coach returned home. Those are her own recollections of preparation, rather than an independent measure of what every camp contributed to her result.
At Tokyo she played women’s singles and carried Myanmar’s flag at the opening ceremony. Olympedia lists her result as equal fifteenth. That placement reflects the tournament’s grouping and ranking convention; it is not an Olympic medal. The appearance nevertheless marked a clear step from regional and international-series events into the Games. Her participation should also be read against Badminton Asia’s wider account of efforts to strengthen coaching and competition opportunities in Myanmar, without assuming that all infrastructure gaps had been resolved.
Paris and a continuing Myanmar career
Badminton Asia’s 2024 annual report lists Thuzar among its Asia Olympic Project players at Paris. Olympedia records a second women’s singles appearance and identifies her as Myanmar’s opening and closing ceremony flag bearer. It places her equal twenty-seventh in Paris, a separate outcome from Tokyo’s equal-fifteenth listing. Badminton Asia’s match report records a group-stage defeat to Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi, 21–12, 21–10. Those specific results are more useful than describing her simply as a two-time Olympian, and they avoid implying she reached a medal round.
Her career continued after Paris. In February 2026 Badminton Asia named her in Myanmar’s women’s squad for the Asian team championships, then reported her group-stage loss to India’s Tanvi Sharma. That result does not erase her earlier circuit wins or Olympic qualifications; it locates her later career within team competition rather than assuming the Paris Games were a retirement point. This profile does not claim a current world ranking from an outdated ranking page or reuse an event photograph without permission from its actual photographer.
Quick answers
Frequently asked questions about Thet Htar Thuzar
- Which Olympics did Thet Htar Thuzar compete in?
- Tokyo 2020, held in 2021, and Paris 2024, both in women’s badminton singles.
- Did Thet Htar Thuzar win an Olympic medal?
- No. Olympedia records equal 15th at Tokyo and equal 27th at Paris. These are tournament classifications, not medal places.
- Who is the Myanmar badminton player called Thae Thae?
- Thet Htar Thuzar. Badminton Asia uses Thae Thae as her nickname; it is not another athlete.
- Were her 2018–2019 international titles World Tour championships?
- The reviewed titles included International Series and Future Series events. They should not be relabelled World Tour titles, world championships or Olympic medals.
Keep exploring
Lives connected to this story
- Aung La N Sang
Another Myanmar athlete who built an international career in a different sport.
- Susi Susanti
Compare a women’s singles Olympic gold medallist from Indonesia.
- Apriyani Rahayu
See how a later Indonesian Olympic badminton champion competed in women’s doubles.
Sources and further reading
Explore the evidence
These references support the biography and offer further reading. Official records, first-person accounts and independent reporting provide different perspectives; image records document attribution and licensing.
- 1. OlympediaThet Htar Thuzar athlete record
Olympedia separately records Tokyo and Paris singles placements and the opening and closing flag-bearer roles. Its equal placements are tournament classifications, not medals.
- 2. Badminton AsiaThae Thae and the Asia Olympic Project
The family, education, regional appearances and 2018–19 title sequence are from Badminton Asia’s contemporary account. The nickname Thae Thae is an attested alias, not a second person.
- 3. The Global New Light of Myanmar, archived by Online Burma/Myanmar LibraryThet Htar Thuzar wins the 2018 Egypt International Series
- 4. Badminton AsiaThet Htar Thuzar discusses Tokyo qualification
Her start in international events and account of coaching and qualification are attributed to her own interview. Her ranking estimates in that interview are not used as a verified all-time career-high.
- 5. Badminton AsiaBadminton development in Myanmar
- 6. Badminton AsiaAnnual Report 2024
- 7. Badminton AsiaParis 2024 women’s singles group match report
- 8. Badminton AsiaMyanmar team preview for the 2026 Asian championships
- 9. Badminton AsiaMyanmar versus India at the 2026 Asian team championships
The 2026 team result is a dated snapshot, not a claim about every later tournament or present ranking.
