Ippei Kojima is a former Japanese badminton

Badminton

Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...

 player who won a record eight Japanese national men's singles titles

Japanese National Badminton Championships

The Japanese National Badminton Championships is a tournament organized to crown the best badminton players in Japan.-Past winners:-External links:* Kyōto-fu Badminton Kyōkai:...

 and some major international titles between the mid 1960s and the mid 1970s. His game was marked by exceptional foot speed, great tenacity, and power surprising for a man who was about five feet (1.524 meters) tall. Kojima is the only Japanese player to have won men's singles at the prestigious Danish Open

Denmark Open

The Denmark Open, or formerly known as Danish Open, is an annual badminton tournament held in Denmark and organized by Danmarks Badminton Forbund.- History :...

 (1970). He also shared the Danish Open men's doubles title, with different partners, in 1968 and 1969. In 1970 he reached the final of all three events at both the U.S.

U.S. Open Badminton Championships

The U.S. Open Badminton Championships is an annual badminton tournament first held in 1954 when the American Badminton Association opened the U.S. National Badminton Championships to foreign competition. For the full list of winners see List of U.S. Open Badminton champions.-21st century:-External...

 and Canadian Open

Canadian Open (badminton)

The Canadian Open in badminton is an international open held in Canada since 1957. The tournament is traditionally held every year in September....

 championships, winning men's doubles in the U.S.A. and both singles and mixed doubles in Canada. In 1971 he won men's singles over a select field in a one-time-only event held in conjunction with the Calgary (Canada) Stampede

Calgary Stampede

The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, exhibition and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The ten-day event, which bills itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth", attracts over one million visitors per year and features one of the world's largest rodeos, a parade, midway,...

, defeating Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

's Svend Pri

Svend Pri

Svend Pri was a badminton player from Denmark who won numerous major titles from the mid 1960's through the mid 1970's. His play was marked by great power, tenacity, and tactical astuteness...

 in the final. Perhaps the most notable matches of Kojima's career were a series of close but losing singles efforts against the iconic Rudy Hartono

Rudy Hartono

Rudy Hartono Kurniawan , born August 18, 1949) is a former Chinese Indonesian badminton player who won the men's singles title at the World Championship in 1980, and the prestigious All-England Championship trophy eight times, seven times consecutively , in the 1960s and 1970s. He is one of the...

 in Thomas Cup

Thomas Cup

The Thomas Cup, sometimes called the World Men's Team Championships, is an international badminton competition among teams representing member nations of the Badminton World Federation , the sport's global governing body...

, the All-Englands

All England Open Badminton Championships

The All England Open Badminton Championships, or simply All England, is one of the world's oldest and most prestigious badminton tournaments. Played annually, it developed after the success of world's first badminton tournament held in Guildford in 1898...

, and other major venues in 1970 and 1971.