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Robert Blair (badminton)

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Robert Blair
Personal information
CountryScotland
Born (1981-08-07) 7 August 1981 (age 43)
Edinburgh, Scotland
Height6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
HandednessRight
Mixed & men's doubles
Highest ranking6 (in XD)
4 (in MD)
Medal record
Men's badminton
Representing  Scotland
Commonwealth Games
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Glasgow Mixed doubles
Representing  England
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2006 Madrid Men's doubles
Sudirman Cup
Bronze medal – third place 2007 Glasgow Mixed team
European Mixed Team Championships
Silver medal – second place 2009 Liverpool Mixed team
European Men's Team Championships
Silver medal – second place 2008 Almere Men's team
Bronze medal – third place 2006 Thessalonica Men's team
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal – second place 2006 Melbourne Mixed team
Bronze medal – third place 2006 Melbourne Men's doubles
BWF profile

Robert Blair (born 7 August 1981) is a Scottish badminton player.

Blair was born in Scotland, but after attending Loughborough University in Leicestershire, he competed for England from 2001 until 2010, except at the Olympic Games, where Scotland and England are both parts of the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team. His main motivation for changing nation was the prospect of medals at the Commonwealth Games.

On 16 December 2010 Badminton England and Badminton Scotland announced that Blair would be returning to Scotland.[1][2] The reason(s) for Blair's return to Scotland remain unclear, but reports suggest a falling-out with members of the Badminton England setup was central to the decision.[3][4][5]

Career

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Blair competed in badminton at the 2004 Summer Olympics in mixed doubles with partner Natalie Munt. They defeated Tadashi Ohtsuka and Shizuka Yamamoto of Japan in the first round but lost to Nova Widianto and Vita Marissa of Indonesia in the round of 16.

Blair reached the men's doubles final at the 2006 IBF World Championships together with Anthony Clark, losing the final against Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng.

Achievements

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World Championships

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Men's doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2006 Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad de Madrid, Madrid, Spain England Anthony Clark China Cai Yun
China Fu Haifeng
9–21, 13–21 Silver Silver

Commonwealth Games

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Men's doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2006 Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Melbourne, Australia England Anthony Clark Australia Ashley Brehaut
Australia Travis Denney
21–6, 21–14 Bronze Bronze

Mixed doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2014 Emirates Arena, Glasgow, Scotland Scotland Imogen Bankier Malaysia Chan Peng Soon
Malaysia Lai Pei Jing
21–17, 21–11 Bronze Bronze

European Championships

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Men's doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2006 Maaspoort, Den Bosch, Netherlands England Anthony Clark Denmark Mathias Boe
Denmark Carsten Mogensen
17–21, 21–11, 18–21 Bronze Bronze

BWF Grand Prix

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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. The World Badminton Grand Prix was sanctioned by the International Badminton Federation from 1983 to 2006.

Men's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2005 Thessaloniki World Grand Prix England Anthony Clark Germany Michael Fuchs
Germany Roman Spitko
15–6, 15–9 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2006 German Open England Anthony Clark South Korea Jung Jae-sung
South Korea Lee Yong-dae
11–15, 6–15 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2007 Bitburger Open England David Lindley Denmark Mathias Boe
Denmark Carsten Mogensen
17–21, 15–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up

Mixed doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2004 Indonesia Open England Natalie Munt China Zhang Jun
China Gao Ling
9–15, 9–15 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2005 Thessaloniki World Grand Prix England Natalie Munt England Anthony Clark
England Donna Kellogg
4–15, 15–6, 13–15 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2006 Swiss Open England Natalie Munt England Nathan Robertson
England Gail Emms
17–14, 7–15, 2–15 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2006 Dutch Open England Jenny Wallwork Indonesia Flandy Limpele
Indonesia Vita Marissa
21–18, 21–18 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2007 Bitburger Open Scotland Imogen Bankier Germany Kristof Hopp
Germany Birgit Overzier
17–21, 17–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2010 German Open Scotland Imogen Bankier Hong Kong Yohan Hadikusumo Wiratama
Hong Kong Tse Ying Suet
5–15 retired 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2011 German Open England Gabrielle White Japan Shintaro Ikeda
Japan Reiko Shiota
16–21, 21–16, 21–15 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2013 Scottish Open Scotland Imogen Bankier England Chris Langridge
England Heather Olver
21–16, 21–14 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2014 German Open Scotland Imogen Bankier South Korea Ko Sung-hyun
South Korea Kim Ha-na
21–15, 21–18 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2014 Scottish Open Scotland Imogen Bankier Denmark Niclas Nøhr
Denmark Sara Thygesen
21–18, 21–14 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
  BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament
  BWF & IBF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series

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Men's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2000 New Zealand International Scotland Russell Hogg New Zealand John Gordon
New Zealand Daniel Shirley
16–17, 7–15 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2000 Irish International Scotland Russell Hogg Scotland Alastair Gatt
Scotland Craig Robertson
15–12, 12–15, 5–15 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2001 Irish International England Stephen Foster Canada Mike Beres
Canada Kyle Hunter
7–3, 7–3, 6–8, 8–7 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2002 Austrian International England James Anderson England Peter Jeffrey
England Ian Palethorpe
7–2, 7–3, 7–5 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2002 Irish International England Ian Palethorpe England Peter Jeffrey
England Julian Robertson
15–5, 14–17, 15–9 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2004 Portugal International England Simon Archer Hong Kong Liu Kwok Wa
Hong Kong Albertus Susanto Njoto
15–9, 12–15, 15–7 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2007 Scottish International England David Lindley Russia Vitalij Durkin
Russia Aleksandr Nikolaenko
21–18, 21–12 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2012 Bulgarian International Malaysia Tan Bin Shen Germany Andreas Heinz
Germany Max Schwenger
18–21, 25–23, 21–18 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2012 Turkey International Malaysia Tan Bin Shen Sweden Magnus Sahlberg
Sweden Mattias Wigardt
21–11, 21–15 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner

Mixed doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2001 Bulgarian International England Natalie Munt England Paul Trueman
England Liza Parker
4–7, 4–7, 7–2, –, – 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2001 Scottish International England Natalie Munt Canada William Milroy
Canada Denyse Julien
8–6, 7–1, 8–6 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2001 Irish International England Natalie Munt Denmark Bo Rafn
Denmark Helle Nielsen
7–4, 3–7, 7–1, 7–5 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2002 Scottish International England Natalie Munt Russia Nikolai Zuyev
Russia Marina Yakusheva
6–11, 13–12, 11–9 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2003 Spanish International England Natalie Munt Sweden Jörgen Olsson
Sweden Frida Andreasson
17–16, 15–10 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2007 Scottish International Scotland Imogen Bankier Russia Aleksandr Nikolaenko
Russia Nina Vislova
15–21, 22–20, 21–9 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2013 French International Scotland Imogen Bankier England Marcus Ellis
England Alyssa Lim
21–17, 21–17 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2013 Kharkiv International Scotland Imogen Bankier Denmark Kim Astrup
Denmark Maria Helsbøl
20–22, 21–9, 21–18 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2013 Bulgarian International Scotland Imogen Bankier Poland Robert Mateusiak
Poland Agnieszka Wojtkowska
21–17, 21–15 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2013 Irish Open Scotland Imogen Bankier Netherlands Jacco Arends
Netherlands Selena Piek
21–9, 19–21, 13–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2014 Swedish Masters Scotland Imogen Bankier Germany Peter Käsbauer
Germany Isabel Herttrich
24–22, 14–21, 21–16 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2014 Orleans International Scotland Imogen Bankier Denmark Niclas Nøhr
Denmark Sara Thygesen
21–13, 19–21, 21–18 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2014 Spanish Open Scotland Imogen Bankier Poland Robert Mateusiak
Poland Agnieszka Wojtkowska
21–13, 14–21, 21–16 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2015 Swiss International Indonesia Pia Zebadiah Bernadet Thailand Bodin Isara
Thailand Savitree Amitrapai
18–21, 25–23, 21–18 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
  BWF International Challenge tournament
  BWF International Series/ European Circuit tournament

Record against selected opponents

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Mixed Doubles results with Gabrielle White against Super Series finalists, World Championships semifinalists, and Olympic quarterfinalists.[6]

References

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  1. ^ "Blair returns to Scotland". badmintonengland.co.uk. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011.
  2. ^ Robert Returns to Scotland
  3. ^ Blair returns home after fall-out with England
  4. ^ "Badminton: Defector Robert Blair quits England and returns to Scotland". The Scotsman.
  5. ^ There may be more to Blair's return to Scotland to train than meets the eye
  6. ^ "tournamentsoftware.com". tournamentsoftware.com.
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