Wayne Macdonnell
Wayne Macdonnell is a former badminton player that was born on June 28, 1940, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.[1] He was a dominant figure in the 1960´s in the Canadian badminton; mainly, in the men’s singles events where he always showed a high level of fitness over eighteen years of career as a top ranked badminton player.[2]
Wayne Macdonnell won five British Columbia Provincial Championships in the singles category in 1961, 1962, 1964, 1966, and 1967, plus other threes championships in the men´s doubles events in 1962, 1966, and 1975.[1][2]
In 1962, Wayne Macdonnell won for the first time the Canada National Championship at the age of 21; he won this title five more consecutive times in 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, and 1967, setting an undefeated record of six consecutive titles in the singles competition. He also obtained a championship in the men´s doubles event, playing together with Bert Fergus.[1] Actually, Wayne Macdonnell was able to compete between 1962 and 1967 in an average of ten to twelve tournaments per year (about 65 tournaments), without losing a match against to any other Canadian player.[1][2]
Between 1958 and 1975, Wayne Macdonnell won fourteen times the singles category of the Washington State Championships; in 1966, he won the US Open in the mixed doubles event teaming up with Tyna Barinaga, and the Irish Open singles title in 1970.[1]
Wayne Macdonnell also played a fundamental role as a singles player in the Canadian teams that competed for the Thomas Cup. In total, Macdonnell played for Canada in six Thomas Cup tournaments between 1961 and 1976 which constitutes a record that no other Canadian player has been able to achieve.[1][2]
After his retirement as a badminton player, Wayne Macdonnell continued involved in badminton managing the British Columbia team that won the silver medal in the Canada Winter Games in 1975 and the Thomas Cup team that competed for Canada in 1986.[2]
In 1993, Wayne Macdonnell was inducted to the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame;[2] he is also a member of the Hall of Fame of the badminton in Canada.[1]
Finally, Wayne Macdonnell became president of Badminton Canada and a corporate member of Sears Canada in Ontario.[2]