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Imogen Bankier

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Imogen Bankier
Personal information
CountryScotland
Born (1987-11-18) 18 November 1987 (age 36)
Glasgow, Scotland
Height5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
HandednessRight
CoachPeter Jeffrey
Women's & mixed doubles
Highest ranking19 (WD with Petya Nedelcheva 14 August 2014)
10 XD (with Chris Adcock 5 April 2012)
11 XD (with Robert Blair 5 April 2012)
Medal record
Women's badminton
Representing  Scotland
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2011 London Mixed doubles
Commonwealth Games
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Glasgow Mixed doubles
European Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2012 Karlskrona Mixed doubles
BWF profile

Imogen Bankier (born 18 November 1987) is a businesswoman and former badminton player from Scotland.[1] After starting playing the sport at the age of 9, Bankier won the national championships at every age level from Under 17 upwards. The highlight of her professional career was reaching the final of the mixed doubles at the 2011 World Championships in Wembley, London. She and her partner Chris Adcock were defeated in the match by the Chinese team of Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei.[2]

Personal life

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Bankier is right handed, 5 ft 7in tall and used equipment manufactured by Yonex, one of her sponsors. Her other sponsor is Glenkeir Whiskies which is run by her father, Celtic chairman Ian Bankier.[3] Imogen was one of several high-profile British and International players to speak out against the Badminton World Federation's plan to force female players to wear short skirts. The BWF claimed the move was aimed at "raising badminton's profile and that of women players" whereas Bankier hit back "I will fight to make sure this dated and simply sexist rule does not happen."[4]

As of 2016 Bankier resides in Paris, France, running a whisky store on the Place De La Madeleine in the 8th arrondissement.[5]

Career

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Bankier started playing badminton at the age of nine in what she describes as "very competitive Bankier family games in the back garden."[6] Before competing at senior level in 2007, she won women's doubles and mixed doubles titles in the Under-17, Under-19, Under-21 and Under-23 age groups as well as various international open championships in doubles. Since making the step up she has taken a total of sixteen Scottish titles, six coming in the women's doubles and ten in the mixed doubles.[7]

Bankier's first major international tournament was the 2008 European Championships in Herning, Denmark where she lost out to the English pair in the quarter-finals of both doubles tournaments. She returned to compete in the mixed doubles at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India where she again fell to an English pairing (who would go on to win silver) in the quarter-finals.[8]

Bankier's career highlight to date however came on 14 August 2011 when she won a silver medal in the mixed doubles event at the World Championships. In a surprise run, she and her English partner Chris Adcock defeated four seeded pairs before losing out 21–15, 21–7 to the world number 1 pair of Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei in the final.[9] Despite being somewhat disappointed with her personal performance in the final, Bankier was quoted as saying that her play in the tournament as a whole would hopefully increase her chances of being selected for the 2012 London Olympics.[10] She and Adcock followed this up a year later by winning a bronze medal at the European Championships in Karlskrona, Sweden. Shortly before these championships the pair broke into the top 10 of the world rankings for the first time.

On 30 May 2012, Bankier and Adcock were selected to represent Great Britain in the badminton mixed doubles at the 2012 London Olympics[11] but were surprisingly eliminated in the opening round. On 30 October 2012, she was leaving the team GB training group stating "The GB programme is geared towards long-term development of a system for British badminton, but I don’t believe the environment and the programme at Milton Keynes are the best way forward for me, for Rio in 2016." This also ended her partnership with Adcock. She thanked the team for helping her develop as a player and stressed that she was not thinking of retiring but was joining Badminton Scotland to prepare for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in her home city.[12] In that championship she won bronze medal with Robert Blair, defeating the Malaysian pair Chan Peng Soon and Lai Pei Jing in the play off match.

Her most recent mixed doubles partner was fellow Scot Robert Blair and her women's doubles partner was Bulgarian Petya Nedelcheva.

In February 2015, after winning the Scottish National Championships in doubles and mixed doubles, it was announced that she was "taking something of a sabbatical as she tries to decide what her sporting future holds". Bankier stated she had decided not to try and qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro as she said she was struggling to find a partner she likes playing with. She stated that she has started working for her father's whisky business, Glenkeir Whiskies.[13]

After the 2016 Nationals, where Bankier won her record[14] 10th consecutive mixed doubles titles. Before the match she was presented with an award for her services to the game by Badminton Scotland president Dan Travers. Before the game Chief Executive Anne Smillie paid tribute:

"She is by far the most successful women's player Scotland has produced and has enjoyed a tremendous badminton career. Now we hope her new business career is just as successful. Today she is bidding for her 10th consecutive mixed doubles title to go with her six women’s doubles titles. But little did we know back in 2007 that Imogen Bankier would go on to become not just the best in Scotland but one of the world’s best doubles players."[15]

Achievements

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BWF World Championships

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Mixed doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2011 Wembley Arena, London, England England Chris Adcock China Zhang Nan
China Zhao Yunlei
15–21, 7–21 Silver Silver

Commonwealth Games

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Mixed doubles

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

European Championships

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Mixed doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2012 Telenor Arena, Karlskrona, Sweden England Chris Adcock Poland Robert Mateusiak
Poland Nadieżda Zięba
17–21, 21–17, 19–21 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.

Mixed doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2007 Bitburger Open England Robert Blair Germany Kristof Hopp
Germany Birgit Overzier
17–21, 17–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2010 German Open England Robert Blair Hong Kong Yohan Hadikusumo Wiratama
Hong Kong Tse Ying Suet
5–15 retired 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2013 Scottish Open Scotland Robert Blair England Chris Langridge
England Heather Olver
21–16, 21–14 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2014 German Open Scotland Robert Blair South Korea Ko Sung-hyun
South Korea Kim Ha-na
21–15, 21–18 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2014 Scottish Open Scotland Robert Blair Denmark Niclas Nøhr
Denmark Sara Thygesen
21–18, 21–14 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
  BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament
  BWF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series/European Circuit

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Women's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2005 Slovak International Scotland Emma Mason Poland Nadieżda Kostiuczyk
Poland Kamila Augustyn
7–15, 3–15 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2005 Hungarian International Scotland Emma Mason Russia Ekaterina Ananina
Russia Anastasia Russkikh
4–15, 15–10, 5–15 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2005 Irish International Scotland Emma Mason England Jenny Wallwork
England Sarah Bok
5–15, 15–3, 16–17 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2006 Hungarian International Scotland Emma Mason Russia Ekaterina Ananina
Russia Anastasia Russkikh
18–21, 8–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2006 Iceland International Scotland Emma Mason Iceland Tinna Helgadóttir
Iceland Ragna Ingólfsdóttir
21–16, 21–19 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2006 Norwegian International Scotland Emma Mason Republic of Ireland Chloe Magee
Republic of Ireland Bing Huang
21–16, 21–19 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2006 Irish International Scotland Emma Mason Netherlands Karina de Wit
Netherlands Ginny Severien
21–14, 11–21, 22–20 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2013 Finnish Open Bulgaria Petya Nedelcheva Denmark Lena Grebak
Denmark Maria Helsbøl
21–10, 21–24 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2013 Dutch International Bulgaria Petya Nedelcheva Japan Rie Eto
Japan Yu Wakita
21–14, 18–21, 12–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2013 Kharkiv International Bulgaria Petya Nedelcheva Denmark Lena Grebak
Denmark Maria Helsbøl
21–11, 21–12 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2013 Belgian International Bulgaria Petya Nedelcheva Bulgaria Gabriela Stoeva
Bulgaria Stefani Stoeva
13–21, 21–11, 21–18 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2013 Czech International Bulgaria Petya Nedelcheva Scotland Jillie Cooper
Scotland Kirsty Gilmour
21–6, 21–14 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2014 Orléans International Bulgaria Petya Nedelcheva Bulgaria Gabriela Stoeva
Bulgaria Stefani Stoeva
21–14, 21–7 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2014 Spanish Open Scotland Kirsty Gilmour Bulgaria Gabriela Stoeva
Bulgaria Stefani Stoeva
14–21, 9–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up

Mixed doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2005 Welsh International Scotland Watson Briggs India Valiyaveetil Diju
India Jwala Gutta
15–12, 2–15, 9–15 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2006 Hungarian International Scotland Watson Briggs Russia Vladimir Malkov
Russia Anastasia Russkikh
12–21, 17–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2007 Scottish International England Robert Blair Russia Aleksandr Nikolaenko
Russia Nina Vislova
15–21, 22–20, 21–9 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2009 Finnish International England Robin Middleton Russia Vitalij Durkin
Russia Nina Vislova
18–21, 13–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2010 Irish International England Chris Adcock Denmark Christian John Skovgaard
Denmark Britta Andersen
21–13, 21–11 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2010 Scottish International England Chris Adcock Germany Till Zander
Germany Gitte Köhler
21–10, 21–12 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2010 Italian International England Chris Adcock Estonia Gert Kunka
Sweden Amanda Högström
21–14, 21–15 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2012 Finnish Open England Chris Adcock Denmark Anders Skaarup Rasmussen
Denmark Sara Thygesen
22–24, 21–12, 21–13 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2013 French International Scotland Robert Blair England Marcus Ellis
England Alyssa Lim
21–17, 21–17 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2013 Kharkiv International Scotland Robert Blair Denmark Kim Astrup
Denmark Maria Helsbøl
20–22, 21–9, 21–18 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2013 Bulgarian International Scotland Robert Blair Poland Robert Mateusiak
Poland Agnieszka Wojtkowska
21–17, 21–15 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2013 Irish Open Scotland Robert Blair Netherlands Jacco Arends
Netherlands Selena Piek
21–9, 19–21, 13–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2014 Swedish Masters Scotland Robert Blair Germany Peter Käsbauer
Germany Isabel Herttrich
24–22, 14–21, 21–16 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2014 Orléans International Scotland Robert Blair Denmark Niclas Nøhr
Denmark Sara Thygesen
21–13, 19–21, 21–18 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2014 Spanish Open Scotland Robert Blair Poland Robert Mateusiak
Poland Agnieszka Wojtkowska
21–13, 14–21, 21–16 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
  BWF International Challenge tournament
  BWF International Series/ European Circuit tournament

References

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  1. ^ "Bankier's profile on the Badminton England website". Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
  2. ^ Creighton, Jessica (14 August 2011). "Chris Adcock and Imogen Bankier take World silver medal". BBC. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  3. ^ "Interview: Imogen Bankier, Badminton player". The Scotsman. 9 June 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  4. ^ "Plans for skimpy skirts for 2012 badminton get short shrift". London Evening Standard. 4 May 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  5. ^ "Interview: Imogen Bankier, l'as du volant experte en whisky". Le Parisien. 20 June 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  6. ^ "Imogen Bankier player profile". Badminton Scotland. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  7. ^ "Player bio: Imogen Bankier". Badminton Scotland. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  8. ^ "Results from the Official Commonwealth Games website". Archived from the original on 14 September 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
  9. ^ "Tennis & Racquet Sports – Sport". visitlondon.com.
  10. ^ "Silver not enough to satisfy Imogen Bankier". BBC. 17 August 2011.
  11. ^ "London 2012: Chris Adcock & Imogen Bankier win GB place". BBC Sport. 30 May 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  12. ^ Gillon, Doug (30 October 2012). "Imogen Bankier quits GB badminton team". The Herald. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  13. ^ Ferrie, Kevin (2 February 2015). "Victorious Bankier gives up on Rio Olympic dreams". The Herald. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  14. ^ "Imogen storms to glorious final". Badminton Scotland. 7 February 2016. Archived from the original on 15 February 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  15. ^ "Badminton Scotland salutes Bankier". Badminton Scotland. 7 February 2016. Archived from the original on 15 February 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
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