Badminton Scotland – Scottish Open
Badminton Scotland is the National Governing Body for the sport north of Hadrian’s Wall. As the relevant NGB they are in charge of promoting badminton across all levels within the country, from junior and entry levels all the way up to elite competitions. Based in Glasgow, they will be hosting the Scottish Open between Thursday the 21st and Sunday the 24th of November.
The Scottish Open has been held regularly since 1907, with the only stoppages occurring between 1915 to 1920 and 1940 to 1946 – times of global conflict. The first competition saw four events take place; Men’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles. Unfortunately there was no Women’s Singles competition in this inaugural year and wouldn’t be until 1913. The winner of the Men’s Singles was an Englishman called George Thomas, who also placed first in the Men’s and Mixed Doubles that same year and would go on to win nine of the first ten Scottish Open’s.
Sir George Alan Thomas was an interesting character. Born on the 14th of June 1881 in the neighbourhood of Tarabya, in the Turkish city of Istanbul he would go on to become the seventh and final Baronet of Yapton, in the English County of Sussex. He died in London on the 23rd of July in 1972, having never married and therefore never produced a hereditary heir. Known for his sportsmanship, he was a fairly successful athlete. He played tennis, reaching the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon Championships, in 1911. He also played chess and was a two time British Champion. Badminton was what brought George the most success though. He won a heady 21 titles at the All England Open Badminton Championships, between 1906 an 1928, which still stands as a record today. At the Scottish Open he won eleven Men’s Singles titles, as well as several Gold Medals in the Men’s and Mixed Doubles events. Sir Thomas helped to organise the first ever Badminton World Championships event, the trophy of which is even nicknamed after him – The Thomas Cup. He was inducted into the World Badminton Hall of Fame in 1996. He is a true legend of the tournament and the sport.
The first winner of the Women’s Singles event, at the Scottish open, was Lavinia Clara Radeglia. Born in 1878 in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, she joined the Richmond Badminton Club in 1903 and later became an England international in 1909. She won four Gold Medals, in total, at the All England Badminton Championships; three in the Women’s singles, in 1913, 1914 and 1923, as well as the Women’s Doubles in 1920. Her record at the Scottish Open is equally impressive. In 1914, she held the women’s title that she won in 1913 and did so again in 1921, after the break taken during The Great War. She also won two Women’s Doubles titles in 1913, with partner W. S. Gill and again in 1914, with K. M. Cochrane. Three straight Mixed Doubles titles were also achieved, between 1913 and 1921, whilst partnering the aforementioned George Alan Thomas, making them quite the fearsome badminton duo. Radeglia died in 1947, aged 68, in Budleigh Salterton.
The first person to win a Gold Medal at the Scottish Open, from outside Britain or Ireland, was actually two people at the same time. In 1951 Eddy B. Choong won the Men’s Singles event, as well as the Men’s Doubles alongside his brother David E. L. Choong – a title that they maintained together in ’52 and ’53.
Eddy B. Choong was a Chinese Malaysian, who’s full name was Choong Ewe Beng. He was born on 29th May 1930, on the island of Penang, off the coast of Malaysia (at the time British Malaya). He won an excessive amount of badminton titles at a variety of competitions, between 1950 and 1966. He won Gold Medals at the Open tournaments of England, Ireland, Scotland, Denmark, Holland, France, Germany, Malaysia, Singapore and the USA, as well as at the Wimbledon and Norwegian Internationals. That wasn’t all, however. He also represented his country on several occasions. He won silver medals at the 1966 Bangkok Asian Games in the Men’s Singles and Mixed Doubles. Additionally, he won a Silver and a Gold medal in the Team event of the Thomas Cup in 1958 and 1955 respectively. He was inducted into the Badminton Hall of Fame in 1997. He was also given an exclusive honour by his country. In 1996 he became an Officer of the Order of the Defender of State (D.S.P.N), which means that he received the affix of Datuk to his name. After he retired from playing, Eddy spent some time in Motor Racing and Go-Karting, a passion that seems to have lasted from childhood. He also looked to develop Badminton in the place of his birth, becoming Vice-President of the Penang Badminton Association. He died on the 28th of January 2013, aged 82, in George Town, Penang, Malaysia.
David E. L. Choong, is the older brother of Eddy, having been born on the 5th of April 1929. He was a very good doubles player. In addition to the success he had with his sibling in the Scottish Open, they also took three All England titles between 1951 and 1953. After retiring from badminton, however, he moved into politics. From 1974 to 1978 he represented the Air Itam constituency as an Assemblyman, in the Penang State Legislative. In 1998 he was inducted into the Badminton Hall of Fame. He also made a Member of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (A.M.N.) in Malaysia, in 1968. Choong died on the 10th of September 2011.
Last year, Liu Haichao, of China won the Men’s Singles competition, with Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour taking the Women’s Singles title, who was able to retain it from the 2017 competition. From 2007, the Scottish Open was categorised as an International Challenge, a level four event as stated by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). This was changed to a Grand Prix status between 2013 and 2017. Last year the Scottish Open became a part of the BWF World Tour Super 100, a Grade 2 tournament. All of this means that there is now a greater amount of prize money on offer for the winners each year and has attracted a number of players from overseas. Titles and Gold Medals have been shared out between athletes from countries such as, the Netherlands, Japan, Bulgaria and Denmark and much more besides.
The 2019 Scottish Open will be had at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, from the 21st to the 24th November. Tickets and additional information can be found at the Badminton Scotland website.
