Imogen Bankier!

Discussion in 'Professional Players' started by alohio12, Aug 16, 2011.

  1. alohio12

    alohio12 Regular Member

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    i can't believe no one started a thread about her (or maybe there is one and I'm blind, which is more likely haha). she was freaking AMAZING this week...not to mention she's quite beautiful. THUMBS UP
     
  2. **KZ**

    **KZ** Regular Member

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    yes...i think she was amazing...especially those cross court net shots...i've always knew that she was a talented player...chris adcock too...and yes...i do agree she is kinda cute
     
  3. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    this thread won't be complete without some bio information as well as pictures. ;)
     
  4. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    Date of Birth: 18 November 1987

    Place of Birth: Glasgow, Scotland

    Living: Milton Keynes

    Right/Left hand: Right

    Height: 5ft 7in

    Racket: Yonex Arcsaber 9FL

    Sponsors: Yonex, The Whisky Shop

    Highest world ranking: 7

    Highest National ranking: 1

    Event(s): Double and Mixed

    Partner(s): Chris Adcock

    Coach(es): Pete Jeffrey

    County/Team: Glasgow and North Stratchclyde

    Started badminton at age: 9

    How I got started: Competitive family badminton games in the garden

    Ambition as badminton player: To win a medal in the Olympics

    First represented Scotland: November 2005

    Season’s best performance:

    Winning the Mixed Doubles in Scottish, Irish and Italian International Challenges back-to-back in November/December 2010

    Best performance of career:

    2011 Final of World Championships
    2010 Final of German Grand Prix
    2010 Bitburger Semi finalist
    2008 All England Quarterfinalist

    Major national achievements:

    8 Scottish National titles
    5 Mixed Doubles 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 -3 Ladies Doubles 2008, 2009 and 2010

    Major international achievements:

    2010 - Scotland International Mixed Doubles Champion, Ireland International Challenge Champion, Italian Open Champion, Commonwealth Games Mixed Doubles Quarter finalist, European Championships Ladies Doubles Quarter finalist, European Women’s Team Championships Quarter finalist, Yonex German Open Mixed Doubles Runner-up

    2009 - Indonesia Super Series Mixed Doubles Quarter-finalist

    2008 - European Women’s Team Championships Semi finalist, European Championships Ladies and XD Quarter-finalist, YONEX All England Super Series Mixed Doubles Quarter-finalist

    2007 - Bitburger Open Mixed Doubles Runner Up -Scotland International Mixed Doubles Champion

    2006 - Irish International Ladies Doubles Champion, Norwegian International Ladies Doubles Champion, Iceland International Ladies Doubles Champion

    Favourite tournament: Sudirman Cup

    Toughest opponent: Wei Yi Li CHINA

    Best friend on the circuit: Emma Mason

    Most influencial person in your sporting career: All my past coaches and my parents
     
  5. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    i will leave the pictures to you guys. ;)
     
  6. demolidor

    demolidor Regular Member

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    Not much point in having a thread when there's nothing to fill it with 364 days of the year ;) (that's why :p)

    Shirt sponsor at 2011 Worlds: The Dalmore
     
    #6 demolidor, Aug 17, 2011
    Last edited: Aug 17, 2011
  7. demolidor

    demolidor Regular Member

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    Silver not enough to satisfy Imogen Bankier

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/badminton/14560393.stm

    By Stevie Miller
    BBC Sport Nation

    [​IMG]
    Bankier and Adcock have only been partners for a year

    "Imogen Bankier says she is disappointed despite bringing home a silver from the World Badminton Championships in London.


    The Scot, who claimed the medal in the mixed doubles with partner Chris Adcock, told BBC Sport Nation that she hoped to improve further.
    "To be honest, on Sunday I did feel quite disappointed," she said.
    "I was disappointed with my own performance. I thought it was a shame to end on what was quite a poor performance from us.
    "I think since then I've tried to reflect on the whole week. We had some terrific matches, we had some great wins, we actually played some amazing badminton - the best badminton we've played.
    "I just think we peaked a little bit early. To be honest, the people that won were worthy world champions, they were a lot better than us on the day.
    "So, of course, it was disappointing not to win gold, but I'll settle for silver this time."
    The steely determination that took Bankier and Adcock to the Wembley final was also in evidence as she revealed she was aiming to improve even further to turn silver into gold.
    "I remember having a discussion with my Mum the week before the Worlds and saying: 'I'm not the player I'd hoped I would be at this stage in my career' - and I still feel I've got a long way to go.


    "But what I think we did prove is that we can challenge the top pairs in the world on our day.
    "But I can see I've got weaknesses in my game and that's something we're going to have to go back and work on."
    It was this dedication to badminton that saw 23-year-old Bankier give up a law degree to focus full time on her sport.
    "I did start a law degree in 2006, but about six months after I started, the GB programme was set up, so I felt like I had to take that opportunity.
    "But, since then, I've picked up an Open University degree, so I don't regret it and it's always there in the future if I want to go back to it."
    However, despite harbouring ambitions of collecting a medal of a different colour next time, she revealed she's finding it hard to be parted from her prize: "It's been on more often than it's been off.
    "I've tried to keep it on as much as possible. I reckon I've got a good month or two's wear out of it before someone tells me to take it off."
    Bankier was backed by her family at Wembley, with her father, Celtic chairman-elect Ian Bankier, taking time out from football to cheer his daughter on.
    And she is returning the favour as she goes to her first-ever football match to watch Celtic face St Johnstone this weekend.
    "I wouldn't say I'm a massive football fan, but now there's a tie into my family and I think it's important to support whatever my dad does," said Bankier.

    [​IMG]
    GB pair delighted with World silver

    Her run to the final could also have another positive return for Bankier, as the rankings points accumulated will boost her and Adcock's bid for London 2012 qualification.
    Only one mixed doubles pairing will be selected for Team GB and Bankier and Adcock face stiff competition from fellow Scot Robert Blair with Gabby White and Nathan Robertson and partner Jenny Wallwork.
    However, with selection based on ranking points gained over a qualifying year, Bankier's Scotland team-mate, Susan Egelstaff, thinks Bankier and Adcock are now in pole position.
    "It is a big boost for her, the mixed doubles is going to be a pretty tight fight," she said.
    "This in no way guarantees her qualification, but it certainly helps them a lot. It's a whack of ranking points that'll push them up the rankings and hopefully they can build on this and qualify."
    British women's number one Egelstaff was also hopeful that Bankier's success would have a positive effect on the sport in Scotland.
    "It's a brilliant achievement and it would be great to think this could maybe encourage some more people into the sport," she said.
    "You need a healthy sport and success breeds success, so hopefully this should encourage some of the younger team members and show that you can win medals, that with a bit of hard work and a bit of talent it can all come together.
    "It's great to see what's possible and it's great to see a Scottish person doing that on the world stage and obviously it's fantastic for Imogen, I'm really pleased for her, she deserves it."


    Imogen Bankier will be the special guest on BBC Sport Nation at 0905 on Saturday morning on BBC Radio Scotland.
     
    #7 demolidor, Aug 17, 2011
    Last edited: Aug 17, 2011
  8. Yoppy

    Yoppy Regular Member

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    She's a special player indeed
     
  9. JamieNeill

    JamieNeill New Member

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    Hi my 1st post. I know Imogen well...i am a Scottish team member with her & was her partner in the 2006 Under 23 Scottish Mixed Doubles, where we took the Gold. She has obviously improved to world class level now & is a great asset to Scotland & Great Britain. It was so exciting seeing her reach the World Champs final. She will love to know she has so many International fans.

    PS. Im Jamie, 2010 & 2011 Scottish Men's Doubles Champion...full time coach also, nice to meet you all.

    European Team 2011 - Spain 4-1.jpg
     
  10. moomoo

    moomoo Regular Member

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    i was rooting for bankier/adcock combo from R2 of the World Championship.

    Now, i'm even more impressed how the bankier/adcock combo managed to reach the finals especially when adcock plays men's doubles too! bankier did a really good job covering for him in first 2 rounds :D

    we'll see how they do in the china masters. hope that adcock will drop his Men's doubles team and focus on XD for the olympics
     
  11. george@chongwei

    george@chongwei Regular Member

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    Hello Jamie, welcome to the forum!:) pls continue to come over to the forum and post to share latest news about scottish badminton;):D
     
  12. vin219

    vin219 Regular Member

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    i think she's abit special bout d way she plays.. she has tat charisma like most of d tops badminton players hv.. i would not say she's there yet, she has to be consistent through out a couple of yrs b4 ppl can starting calling a d best tho. keep it up, who knows she can give d chinese a run for their money!
     
  13. Loh

    Loh Regular Member

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    First time I saw her at the Worlds. Amazing find for Scotland!

    I like her approach and positive attitude. She's attractive not only in her play but most certainly in her appearance as well!

    Here is a young lady who took the opportunity when it came but being ambitious and hardworking she even obtained her law(?) degree whilst training full time, I believe. Now this is something our young and ambitious Singaporean sportspeople can certainly emulate!

    I wish her well and hope to see more of her in action. Please don't keep her away only in Europe.
     
  14. Loh

    Loh Regular Member

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    Badminton: Imogen Bankier sticking strictly to studies

    Published Date: 06 October 2011

    By STUART BATHGATE


    UNIVERSITY exams will force Scottish badminton star Imogen Bankier to miss tomorrow night's Olympic Ball, but the 23-year-old is determined not to miss the boat when it comes to selection for next year's Games.
    Bankier, who is based at the National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes, will be driving home to Glasgow while many of her team-mates are heading into London for the charity event. Next year, though, she has every intention of joining them for the badminton competition at Wembley Arena - the scene of her greatest success in the sport so far, when she and her mixed-doubles partner Chris Adcock were runners-up at the world
    championships in August.


    There are many Olympic sports where coming second in the world would be a guarantee of a place in the Great Britain team. Such is the competition in badminton, though, that Bankier and Adcock are just one of three pairs competing for what will almost certainly be just a single place.

    "To qualify for London you need to be in the top 16 in the world and be the most highly ranked in your own country," Bankier explained yesterday. "If you have two teams in the top eight they can both qualify, and, if a country has three teams in the top four, they all get to compete at the Olympics. But, at the moment, we're 15th, Nathan Robertson and Jenny Wallwork are 12th, and Robert Blair and Gabrielle White are 19th, so it's just that one place for Great Britain."

    The ranking points gained at the world championships have helped Bankier and Adcock close the gap on their 12th-placed rivals but, with the qualification period going on until next May, the competition will be long and intense for some time to come. The next month or so will be a particularly busy time, however, with big tournaments in Denmark, France and Germany counting for a lot of points.

    The Danish Open is first up, with Bankier and Adcock meeting her fellow Scot Blair and White in the first round on 19 October. The only time the pairs have met each other so far was in the semi-finals of the German Open in March, when Blair and White won 21-17, 21-17 and went on to take the title.

    Britons have enjoyed a fair amount of success in mixed doubles at major tournaments over the past decade and more. Simon Archer and Joanne Goode were bronze medallists at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, and Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms went one better in Athens four years later. Bankier added: "Archer and Goode winning bronze is a really vivid memory from when I was younger and then, when I was in the juniors, Gail was a very important figure.

    "I definitely grew up aspiring to be as good as she was, and I went on to play her a few times but I never beat her.

    Last Updated: 05 October 2011 8:25 PM
    Source: The Scotsman
    Location: Edinburgh
     
    #14 Loh, Oct 6, 2011
    Last edited: Oct 6, 2011
  15. demolidor

    demolidor Regular Member

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    Mixed double – Beating your countrymen

    [TABLE]
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    [TD="align: left"] Organisation: BadmintonDenmark.com
    Published by: Anders Holm Nielsen
    Date: 10/19/2011 4:15:15 PM
    Category: General
    [/TD]
    [/TR]
    [TR]
    [TD="align: left"][/TD]
    [/TR]
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    "It is never easy facing teammates and fellow countrymen in important matches. It is especially not easy when you are romantically involved with your opponent. We had a little chat with Imogen Bankier, Chris Adcock and Robert Blair about the matter.
    In the live streaming studio this morning at Yonex Denmark Open, Badminton Denmark’s Rasmus Bech had Imogen Bankier as a guest for a talk about beating Robert Blair and Gabrielle White. The pairs train against each other every day and are even romantically involved. - It is always a bit awkward to be honest. We train against them every day and Chris is Gabrielle’s boyfriend, says Bankier. Adcock and White are not the only couple in the British camp. Nathan Robertson and Jenny Wallwork are not only an item on the court but also privately. But an Olympic year is coming up and private life and badminton are being kept separate. Bankier explains that even though the four players know each other, the competition is high and there is no mercy when it comes to hunting points for the Olympics - I’m not going to lie; it feels really, really good. We are trying to get ahead of them and there is no love lost between the pairs. It’s very competitive. To beat the pair really stomps our mark on them and shows that we are better than them. It is a massive confidence boost and probably hurts them a bit as well, so yeah it’s a good thing, says Imogen Bankier and continues. -There are huge points up for grabs and that is very important to us. Everybody is chasing points so it is one of the most important tournaments of the year and we hope to do well. We are definitely hoping to get a few more games under our belt. Robert Blair also thinks it is difficult to play against teammates but takes it in good spirit. - It’s always a bit strange when you practice together all the time and Chris and Gabrielle are in a relationship so it is a big difference from normal, Blair says with a smile When asked at the end which couple will be the biggest challenge, Bankier replies: - Besides us of course the Chinese seeds are miles ahead - definitely the strongest pair. The Danes are strong too however and always perform well at home. "

    http://www.badmintondenmark.com/cms/default.aspx?clubid=3563&m=308841&cmsid=133&pageid=1998
     
  16. jamesklass

    jamesklass New Member

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    i do agree she is kinda cute

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  17. CLELY

    CLELY Regular Member

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    London 2012: Imogen Bankier going for badminton gold

    by Laurie Hanna, Daily Mirror 25/01/2012

    BADMINTON star Imogen Bankier is determined to win Team GB’s first ever gold medal at the London Olympics.

    The 24-year-old is hopeful of going one better than the silver won by Gail Emms and Nathan Robertson in Athens 2004.

    And she believes the roar of a home crowd might just be enough to spur her and partner Chris Adcock on to mixed-doubles glory.

    The duo won silver at last year’s World Championships, and Imogen said: “Gail and Nathan were the last Team GB medallists when they won silver in Athens in 2004, so we want to go one better than that.

    “We’re quietly confident because our form has been good and we’ve been consistent. But all the pairs are good and on their day can beat anyone.

    “We would love to emulate them or even go one better.”

    Imogen and Chris are currently ranked 14th in the world and are in the middle of a battle to secure their qualification for this summer’s Games.

    Only one of three Team GB duos is granted automatic qualification to the Games - unless two of them can reach the top eight by the time the qualifying period ends in May.

    She added: “Training’s been going really well - we’re about halfway through Olympic qualifying, which runds from May 2011 to May 2012.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------

     
    #17 CLELY, Jan 25, 2012
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2012
  18. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    Wow! Just finished watching Adcock/Bankier win over #1 seed Zhang/Zhao 16-21, 21-19, 21-19 round 1!

    Bankier was amazing in the front court, and in the last third of the rubber set, she just singlehandedly steamrolled over CHN. :)
     
  19. Staiger1

    Staiger1 Regular Member

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    Imagine she has a better partner , i.e. our Canadian friend Toby ,and formed a good partnership; they would have been in the world top 5 and challenging for SS titles :) . Just a thought !
     
  20. **KZ**

    **KZ** Regular Member

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    I don't think chris adcock is any bad...he is talented....but he needs to mature in his game more...they are still relatively young...and european players usually peak at an older age...so i guess there is more to come from this pair...imogen definitely reminds me of gail back in her heyday....
     

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