Robert Blair (badminton)

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Robert Returns to Scotland</ref> 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.<ref>Blair returns home after fall-out with England</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>There may be more to Blair's return to Scotland to train than meets the eye</ref>

Career

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

World Championships

Men's doubles

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

Commonwealth Games

Men's doubles

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

Mixed doubles

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

European Championships

Men's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2006	Maaspoort, Den Bosch, Netherlands	Template:Flagicon Anthony Clark	Template:Flagicon Mathias Boe Template:Flagicon Carsten Mogensen	17–21, 21–11, 18–21	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

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2005	Thessaloniki World Grand Prix	Template:Flagicon Anthony Clark	Template:Flagicon Michael Fuchs Template:Flagicon Roman Spitko	15–6, 15–9	Template:Gold1 Winner
2006	German Open	Template:Flagicon Anthony Clark	Template:Flagicon Jung Jae-sung Template:Flagicon Lee Yong-dae	11–15, 6–15	Template:Silver2 Runner-up
2007	Bitburger Open	Template:Flagicon David Lindley	Template:Flagicon Mathias Boe Template:Flagicon Carsten Mogensen	17–21, 15–21	Template:Silver2 Runner-up

Mixed doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2004	Indonesia Open	Template:Flagicon Natalie Munt	Template:Flagicon Zhang Jun Template:Flagicon Gao Ling	9–15, 9–15	Template:Silver2 Runner-up
2005	Thessaloniki World Grand Prix	Template:Flagicon Natalie Munt	Template:Flagicon Anthony Clark Template:Flagicon Donna Kellogg	4–15, 15–6, 13–15	Template:Silver2 Runner-up
2006	Swiss Open	Template:Flagicon Natalie Munt	Template:Flagicon Nathan Robertson Template:Flagicon Gail Emms	17–14, 7–15, 2–15	Template:Silver2 Runner-up
2006	Dutch Open	Template:Flagicon Jenny Wallwork	Template:Flagicon Flandy Limpele Template:Flagicon Vita Marissa	21–18, 21–18	Template:Gold1 Winner
2007	Bitburger Open	Template:Flagicon Imogen Bankier	Template:Flagicon Kristof Hopp Template:Flagicon Birgit Overzier	17–21, 17–21	Template:Silver2 Runner-up
2010	German Open	Template:Flagicon Imogen Bankier	Template:Flagicon Yohan Hadikusumo Wiratama Template:Flagicon Tse Ying Suet	5–15 retired	Template:Silver2 Runner-up
2011	German Open	Template:Flagicon Gabrielle White	Template:Flagicon Shintaro Ikeda Template:Flagicon Reiko Shiota	16–21, 21–16, 21–15	Template:Gold1 Winner
2013	Scottish Open	Template:Flagicon Imogen Bankier	Template:Flagicon Chris Langridge Template:Flagicon Heather Olver	21–16, 21–14	Template:Gold1 Winner
2014	German Open	Template:Flagicon Imogen Bankier	Template:Flagicon Ko Sung-hyun Template:Flagicon Kim Ha-na	21–15, 21–18	Template:Gold1 Winner
2014	Scottish Open	Template:Flagicon Imogen Bankier	Template:Flagicon Niclas Nøhr Template:Flagicon Sara Thygesen	21–18, 21–14	Template:Gold1 Winner

Template:Color box BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament

Template:Color box BWF & IBF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series

Men's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2000	New Zealand International	Template:Flagicon Russell Hogg	Template:Flagicon John Gordon Template:Flagicon Daniel Shirley	16–17, 7–15	Template:Silver2 Runner-up
2000	Irish International	Template:Flagicon Russell Hogg	Template:Flagicon Alastair Gatt Template:Flagicon Craig Robertson	15–12, 12–15, 5–15	Template:Silver2 Runner-up
2001	Irish International	Template:Flagicon Stephen Foster	Template:Flagicon Mike Beres Template:Flagicon Kyle Hunter	7–3, 7–3, 6–8, 8–7	Template:Gold1 Winner
2002	Austrian International	Template:Flagicon James Anderson	Template:Flagicon Peter Jeffrey Template:Flagicon Ian Palethorpe	7–2, 7–3, 7–5	Template:Gold1 Winner
2002	Irish International	Template:Flagicon Ian Palethorpe	Template:Flagicon Peter Jeffrey Template:Flagicon Julian Robertson	15–5, 14–17, 15–9	Template:Gold1 Winner
2004	Portugal International	Template:Flagicon Simon Archer	Template:Flagicon Liu Kwok Wa Template:Flagicon Albertus Susanto Njoto	15–9, 12–15, 15–7	Template:Gold1 Winner
2007	Scottish International	Template:Flagicon David Lindley	Template:Flagicon Vitalij Durkin Template:Flagicon Aleksandr Nikolaenko	21–18, 21–12	Template:Gold1 Winner
2012	Bulgarian International	Template:Flagicon Tan Bin Shen	Template:Flagicon Andreas Heinz Template:Flagicon Max Schwenger	18–21, 25–23, 21–18	Template:Gold1 Winner
2012	Turkey International	Template:Flagicon Tan Bin Shen	Template:Flagicon Magnus Sahlberg Template:Flagicon Mattias Wigardt	21–11, 21–15	Template:Gold1 Winner

Mixed doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2001	Bulgarian International	Template:Flagicon Natalie Munt	Template:Flagicon Paul Trueman Template:Flagicon Liza Parker	4–7, 4–7, 7–2, –, –	Template:Gold1 Winner
2001	Scottish International	Template:Flagicon Natalie Munt	Template:Flagicon William Milroy Template:Flagicon Denyse Julien	8–6, 7–1, 8–6	Template:Gold1 Winner
2001	Irish International	Template:Flagicon Natalie Munt	Template:Flagicon Bo Rafn Template:Flagicon Helle Nielsen	7–4, 3–7, 7–1, 7–5	Template:Gold1 Winner
2002	Scottish International	Template:Flagicon Natalie Munt	Template:Flagicon Nikolai Zuyev Template:Flagicon Marina Yakusheva	6–11, 13–12, 11–9	Template:Gold1 Winner
2003	Spanish International	Template:Flagicon Natalie Munt	Template:Flagicon Jörgen Olsson Template:Flagicon Frida Andreasson	17–16, 15–10	Template:Gold1 Winner
2007	Scottish International	Template:Flagicon Imogen Bankier	Template:Flagicon Aleksandr Nikolaenko Template:Flagicon Nina Vislova	15–21, 22–20, 21–9	Template:Gold1 Winner
2013	French International	Template:Flagicon Imogen Bankier	Template:Flagicon Marcus Ellis Template:Flagicon Alyssa Lim	21–17, 21–17	Template:Gold1 Winner
2013	Kharkiv International	Template:Flagicon Imogen Bankier	Template:Flagicon Kim Astrup Template:Flagicon Maria Helsbøl	20–22, 21–9, 21–18	Template:Gold1 Winner
2013	Bulgarian International	Template:Flagicon Imogen Bankier	Template:Flagicon Robert Mateusiak Template:Flagicon Agnieszka Wojtkowska	21–17, 21–15	Template:Gold1 Winner
2013	Irish Open	Template:Flagicon Imogen Bankier	Template:Flagicon Jacco Arends Template:Flagicon Selena Piek	21–9, 19–21, 13–21	Template:Silver2 Runner-up
2014	Swedish Masters	Template:Flagicon Imogen Bankier	Template:Flagicon Peter Käsbauer Template:Flagicon Isabel Herttrich	24–22, 14–21, 21–16	Template:Gold1 Winner
2014	Orleans International	Template:Flagicon Imogen Bankier	Template:Flagicon Niclas Nøhr Template:Flagicon Sara Thygesen	21–13, 19–21, 21–18	Template:Gold1 Winner
2014	Spanish Open	Template:Flagicon Imogen Bankier	Template:Flagicon Robert Mateusiak Template:Flagicon Agnieszka Wojtkowska	21–13, 14–21, 21–16	Template:Gold1 Winner
2015	Swiss International	Template:Flagicon Pia Zebadiah Bernadet	Template:Flagicon Bodin Isara Template:Flagicon Savitree Amitrapai	18–21, 25–23, 21–18	Template:Gold1 Winner

Template:Color box BWF International Challenge tournament

Template:Color box 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Div col

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

External links

• Template:BWFB
• Template:BWFT
• Template:Olympedia
• Template:Olympics.com
• Template:Team GB
• Template:CGF profile
• Template:2006 Commonwealth Games profile
• Template:2014 Commonwealth Games profile