Robert Blair

Robert James Blair (born 7 August 1981) is a Scottish born badminton player who represented Scotland and England at international level.

Biography 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.

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.

On 16 December 2010 Badminton England and Badminton Scotland announced that Blair would be returning to Scotland. 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.

Achievements

World Championships Men's doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 2006 Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad de Madrid, Madrid, Spain Anthony Clark Cai Yun Fu Haifeng 9–21, 13–21 Silver Silver

Commonwealth Games Men's doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 2006 Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Melbourne, Australia Anthony Clark Ashley Brehaut Travis Denney 21–6, 21–14 Bronze Bronze

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

European Championships Men's doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 2006 Maaspoort, Den Bosch, Netherlands Anthony Clark Mathias Boe Carsten Mogensen 17–21, 21–11, 18–21 Bronze Bronze

BWF Grand Prix 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

Mixed doubles BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament BWF & IBF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series Men's doubles

Mixed doubles BWF International Challenge tournament BWF International Series/ European Circuit tournament

Record against selected opponents Mixed Doubles results with Gabrielle White against Super Series finalists, World Championships semifinalists, and Olympic quarterfinalists.

Tao Jiaming & Tian Qing 0–1 Xu Chen & Ma Jin 0–3 Zhang Nan & Zhao Yunlei 0–1 Chen Hung-ling & Cheng Wen-hsing 0–1 Joachim Fischer Nielsen & Christinna Pedersen 0–1 Thomas Laybourn & Kamilla Rytter Juhl 0–1 Chris Adcock & Imogen Bankier 1–1 Tontowi Ahmad & Liliyana Natsir 0–2 Yoo Yeon-seong & Jang Ye-na 0–1 Ko Sung-hyun & Yoo Yeon-seong 2–1 Robert Mateusiak & Nadieżda Zięba 0–1 Songphon Anugritayawon & Kunchala Voravichitchaikul 2–1 Sudket Prapakamol & Saralee Thungthongkam 1–2