Richard Vaughan (badminton)

Richard Vaughan
Personal information
NationalityBritish (Welsh)
Born (1978-04-16) 16 April 1978
Caerphilly, Wales[1]
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight82 kg (181 lb; 12.9 st)
Sport
SportBadminton
HandednessRight
Men's singles
Highest ranking7[1] (2002)
BWF profile
Medal record
Men's badminton
Representing  Wales
Commonwealth Games
2002 Manchester Men's singles
European Championships
2000 Glasgow Men's singles
European Junior Championships
1997 Nymburk Boys' singles

Richard Vaughan (born 16 April 1978) is a former international badminton player from Wales who is a two-time Olympian, won bronze medals at Commonwealth Games and European Championships and is a twelve-times champion of Wales. From 2015 to 2021 he was the CEO for Squash Australia, and since 2023 the Vice-President and then Chief Operating Officer for the Badminton World Federation (BWF).

Biography

Vaughan from Llanbradach, Caerphilly,[2] represented the Welsh team at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,[3] where he competed in the singles and team events.[4]

He won a bronze medal at the 2000 European Badminton Championships, losing to Peter Gade of Denmark in the semi-final. In 2000 he made his Olympic debut at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. During the men's singles he beat world No5 Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand in the first round and Swedish No1 Rasmus Wengberg in the 2nd round, before losing to World No1 and World Champion Sun Jun of China, 13–15 13–15.[2][5] He beat the World No1 Roslin Hashim of Malaysia at the 2001 Danish Open.

Vaughan represented the Welsh team again at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, winninga bronze medal. He beat world No3 Ronald Susilo of Singapore and Abhinn Shyam Gupta of India on the way to the semi-final, where he lost to Lee Tsuen Seng of Malaysia.[6] That same year he reached his highest world ranking of number 7. In 2004 Vaughan beat the World Champion Xia Xuanze of China at the All England Super Series[7] and attended his second Olympic Games at the 2004 Summer Olympics despite contracting a virus similar to glandular fever, which seriously impaired his preparation for the Athens Olympics. In men's singles, he defeated Marco Vasconcelos of Portugal in the first round. In the round of 16, Vaughan was defeated by Shon Seung-Mo of Korea, the eventual silver medalist.[2]

Vaughan went to his third Commonwealth Games in 2006 and earned 86 Welsh international caps.[8] He was the xseven-time singles champion of Wales at the Welsh National Badminton Championships.[9]

Towards the end of his paying career in 2005 he established the Richard Vaughan Badminton Academy, based in the United Kingdom, helping establish many British and European players. In 2008, Vaughan was a member of Team Darfur, a sporting pressure group in the lead up to the 2008 Olympic Games.[10] He worked as a Director in IT sector before becoming the Chief Executive (CEO) of Badminton Ireland between 2011 and 2015. In 2014 Vaughan joined the board of Badminton Europe and chaired the High-Performance Commission, which has oversaw the development of a European Training Centre in Denmark.

From 2015 to 2020 Vaughan was the CEO of Squash Australia,[11] guiding Australia at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast.[12] In 2019, Vaughan established the 'Friends of Squash' Parliament competition with the current Sports Minister Anika Wells and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. and in late 2020 joined the board at Equestrian Australia as a Non-Executive Director, Chairing the Finance Committee.

Achievements

Commonwealth Games

Men's singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2002 Bolton Arena, Manchester, England Lee Tsuen Seng Bronze

European Championships

Men's singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2000 Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, Scotland Peter Gade 3–15, 4–15 Bronze

European Junior Championships

Boys' singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
1997 Nymburk, Czech Republic Dicky Palyama 15–11, 11–15, 15–18 Silver

World Grand Prix

The World Badminton Grand Prix sanctioned by International Badminton Federation (IBF) since 1983.

Men's singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
2000 Polish Open Vladislav Druzchenko 12–15, 12–15 Runner-up
1999 Polish Open Rio Suryana 9–15, 15–6, 12–15 Runner-up

Best Grand Prix results

  • Last 16 All England 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007
  • 1/4 Final Danish Grand Prix 2001
  • 1/4 Final Swiss Grand Prix 2002
  • 1/4 Final German Grand Prix 2002
  • Semi Final Dutch Grand Prix 2000
  • Semi Final US Grand Prix 2007
  • Final Polish Grand Prix 2000
  • Final Polish Grand Prix 2001

BWF International Challenge/Series

Men's singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
2006 Canadian International Runner-up
2006 Waikato International John Moody 21–11, 16–21, 20–22 Runner-up
2006 Victorian International Nikhil Kanetkar 22–20, 21–13 Winner
2006 Estonian International Runner-up
2006 Mauritius International Klaus Raffeiner 21–11, 21–18 Winner
2006 Kenya International Edwin Ekiring 21–16, 21–17 Winner
2006 South Africa International Winner
2003 Peru International Tjitte Weistra 15–4, 15–8 Winner
2003 Giraldilla International Sho Sasaki 15–11, 6–15, 12–15 Runner-up
2003 Guatemala International Hidetaka Yamada 11–15, 15–10, 15–8 Winner
2002 South Africa International Stewart Carson 7–1, 7–0, 7–0 Winner
2002 Spanish International Dicky Palyama 4–7, 1–7, 7–5 Runner-up
2001 Bulgarian International Andrew South 7–2, 5–7, 7–2 Winner
2000 Cuba International Jyri Aalto 15–8, 15–6 Winner
2000 Canadian International Jyri Aalto 12–15, 15–7, 9–15 Runner-up
2000 Welsh International Andrew South 1–7, 7–2, 7–5 Winner
2000 Dutch International Vladislav Druzchenko 15–10, 6–15, 11–15 Runner-up
2000 Croatian International Jyri Aalto 15–10, 15–13 Winner
1999 Welsh International Rasmus Wengberg 17–16, 17–14 Winner
1999 Le Volant d'Or de Toulouse Pullela Gopichand 13–15, 15–14, 6–15 Runner-up
1999 Slovenian International Kasper Ødum 15–4, 11–15, 15–9 Winner
1999 Chile International Bobby Milroy 15–9, 15–5 Winner
1999 Peru International Ardy Wiranata 15–7, 2–15, 9–15 Runner-up
1998 Argentina International Winner
1998 Brazil International Jim Ronny Andersen 15–6, 15–8 Winner
1998 Spanish International Gerben Bruijstens 15–5, 15–1 Winner

Mixed doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2009 Cyprus International Sarah Thomas Henry Tam
Donna Haliday 		18–21, 14–21 Runner-up
2009 Banuinvest International Sarah Thomas Valeriy Atrashchenkov
Elena Prus 		19–21, 12–21 Runner-up
  BWF International Challenge tournament
  BWF International Series tournament

References

  1. ^ a b "PROFILE – Richard Vaughan – BEIJING OR BUST". Badzine.net. 18 March 2008. Archived from the original on 24 October 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "Richard Vaughan Biography and Olympic Results: Olympics at Sports-Reference.com". Sports-Reference.com website. Sports Reference LLC. 2010. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2010.
  3. ^ "Athletes' Profile: Badminton". Commonwealth Games Federation. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
  4. ^ "Wales Kuala Lumpur 1998". Commonwealth Games Federation. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
  5. ^ "Biographical information". Olympedia. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
  6. ^ "Wales Manchester 2002". Commonwealth Games Federation. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
  7. ^ BBC (12 March 2004). "Al England".
  8. ^ "Badminton Wales History". Welsh Badminton. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
  9. ^ "National Championships". Badminton People. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
  10. ^ "Vaughan backed in Olympic stance". 28 March 2008 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
  11. ^ "Vaughan Joins Squash Australia".
  12. ^ "GC2018 Doubles Day Six : Great finish for the Aussies". Squash Australia.
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