Paula Lynn Cao Hok

Paula Lynn Cao Hok
Paula Lynn Cao Hok
Personal information
Birth name	Paula Lynn Parrocho Obañana
Country	United States
Born	March 19, 1985 (age 39); Dumaguete, Philippines
Residence	Minneapolis–Saint Paul, United States
Height	1.61 m (5 ft 3 in)
Weight	58 kg (128 lb)
Handedness	Right
Coach	Alistair Casey; Johanna Lee
Women's & mixed doubles
Highest ranking	17 (WD 2 April 2015); 63 (XD 30 July 2019)
Medal record
Women's badminton
Representing United States
Pan American Games
Pan Am Championships
	BWF profile

Paula Lynn Cao Hok (née Obañana; born March 19, 1985) is a Filipino-American badminton player who was originally from Dumaguete, Philippines.^[1]^[2] In 2015, she won the women's doubles gold medals at the Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada partnered with Eva Lee.^[3] In 2016, she competed at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.^[4]

Personal life

Obañana, started training at the age of 10 during her elementary years at the Silliman University Elementary School. She later joined the High School Badminton Varsity Team at Silliman University and was subsequently awarded "Athlete of the Year", "Most Outstanding Athlete of the Year", and "Most Valuable Player".^[5] After graduating from high school she was recruited on a scholarship at the De La Salle University in Manila, Philippines where she eventually obtained her bachelor's degree. She left the Philippines in 2006, where her mother Nenita had been recruited to work as a nurse in Minnesota. Obañana officially became a U.S. citizen in May 2011.^[6]

Achievements

Pan American Games

Women's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2011	Multipurpose Gymnasium, Guadalajara, Mexico	Eva Lee	Alex Bruce Michelle Li	21–12, 16-21, 19-21	Bronze
2015	Atos Markham Pan Am Centre, Toronto, Canada	Eva Lee	Lohaynny Vicente Luana Vicente	21–14, 21–6	Gold

Mixed doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2011	Multipurpose Gymnasium, Guadalajara, Mexico	Howard Bach	Toby Ng Grace Gao	11–21, 21–19, 14–21	Bronze
2019	Polideportivo 3, Lima, Peru	Howard Shu	Nyl Yakura Kristen Tsai	15–21, 15–21	Bronze

Pan Am Championships

Women's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2013	Palacio de los Deportes Virgilio Travieso Soto, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic	Eva Lee	Alex Bruce Phyllis Chan	21–15, 21–13	Gold
2014	Markham Pan Am Centre, Markham, Canada	Eva Lee	Lohaynny Vicente Luana Vicente	23–21, 21–14	Gold

BWF Grand Prix (1 runner-up)

The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) and played between 2007 and 2017.

Women's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2014	U.S. Grand Prix	Eva Lee	Hsieh Pei-chen Wu Ti-jung	16–21, 10–21	Runner-up

BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament

BWF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series (19 titles, 13 runners-up)

Women's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2009	Miami Pan Am International	Priscilla Lun	Sandra Chirlaque Alejandra Monteverde	22–20, 13–21, 21–13	Winner
2010	Brazil International	Eva Lee	Iris Wang Rena Wang	14–21, 21–11, 21–12	Winner
2011	Guatemala International	Eva Lee	Grace Gao Joycelyn Ko	19–21, 21–18, 21–13	Winner
2011	Brazil International	Eva Lee	Alex Bruce Michelle Li	21–14, 21–17	Winner
2011	Norwegian International	Eva Lee	Lotte Jonathans Paulien van Dooremalen	17–21, 21–6, 21–13	Winner
2012	Swedish Masters	Eva Lee	Mariana Agathangelou Heather Olver	15–21, 12–21	Runner-up
2012	Austrian International	Eva Lee	Ng Hui Ern Ng Hui Lin	16–21, 18–21	Runner-up
2012	Polish Open	Eva Lee	Mariana Agathangelou Heather Olver	12–21, 21–23	Runner-up
2012	Tahiti International	Eva Lee	Alex Bruce Michelle Li	21–13, 21–12	Winner
2013	Canadian International	Eva Lee	Alex Bruce Phyllis Chan	15–21, 14–21	Winner
2013	Bulgarian International	Eva Lee	Gabriela Stoeva Stefani Stoeva	15–21, 10–21	Runner-up
2014	Peru International	Eva Lee	Nicole Grether Charmaine Reid	21–14, 21–15	Winner
2014	Guatemala International	Eva Lee	Paula B Pereira Fabiana Silva	11–3, 11–3, 11–10	Winner
2014	USA International	Eva Lee	Naoko Fukuman Kurumi Yonao	10–21, 23–25	Runner-up
2015	Guatemala International	Eva Lee	Johanna Goliszewski Carla Nelte	18–21, 22–24	Runner-up
2015	Bulgarian International	Eva Lee	Gabriela Stoeva Stefani Stoeva	14–21, 10–21	Runner-up
2015	Chile International Challenge	Eva Lee	Lohaynny Vicente Luana Vicente	21–17, 21–16	Winner
2016	Austrian Open	Eva Lee	Ekaterina Bolotova Evgeniya Kosetskaya	11–21, 21–23	Runner-up
2016	Tahiti International	Eva Lee	Akane Araki Ayaka Kawasaki	13–21, 12–21	Runner-up
2016	Yonex / K&D Graphics International	Eva Lee	Jing Yu Hong Beiwen Zhang	17–21, 20–22	Runner-up
2022	Peru Challenge	Lauren Lam	Annie Xu Kerry Xu	21–19, 21–18	Winner
2022	Mexican International	Lauren Lam	Catherine Choi Josephine Wu	19–21, 10–21	Runner-up
2022	El Salvador International	Lauren Lam	Annie Xu Kerry Xu	21–18, 21–17	Winner
2023	Estonian International	Lauren Lam	Moa Sjöö Tilda Sjöö	21–10, 21–11	Winner
2023	Lagos International	Lauren Lam	Simran Singhi Ritika Thaker	Walkover	Runner-up
2024	Uganda International	Lauren Lam	Francesca Corbett Allison Lee	19–21, 21–18, 21–15	Winner

Mixed doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2011	Miami International	Phillip Chew	Lasitha Menaka Renu Chandrika Hettiarachchige	21–18, 17–21, 21–10	Winner
2019	Uganda International	Howard Shu	Vinson Chiu Breanna Chi	21–9, 21–12	Winner
2019	Mauritius International	Howard Shu	Vinson Chiu Breanna Chi	17–21, 16–21	Runner-up
2019	Peru International	Howard Shu	Fabricio Farias Jaqueline Lima	21–17, 22–20	Winner
2019	Benin International	Howard Shu	Pit Seng Low Louisa Ma	21–12, 21–13	Winner
2019	Côte d'Ivoire International	Howard Shu	Ahmed Salah Hadia Hosny	21–16, 21–14	Winner