Thomas Laybourn (born 30 September 1977) is a retired badminton player from Denmark. He is a World Champion, two times European Champion and was ranked as world number 1 in the mixed doubles in January 2011.

Thomas Laybourn
Laybourn at the 2010 Swiss Opem
Personal information
CountryDenmark
Born (1977-09-30) 30 September 1977 (age 47)
Copenhagen, Denmark[1]
ResidenceFrederiksberg, Denmark[1]
Height1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
HandednessRight[1]
Mixed doubles
Highest ranking1 (6 January 2011)
Medal record
Men's badminton
Representing  Denmark
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2009 Hyderabad Mixed doubles
Sudirman Cup
Silver medal – second place 2011 Qingdao Mixed team
Bronze medal – third place 2005 Beijing Mixed team
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2006 Den Bosch Mixed doubles
Gold medal – first place 2010 Manchester Mixed doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2012 Karlskrona Mixed doubles
European Mixed Team Championships
Gold medal – first place 2006 Den Bosch Mixed team
Gold medal – first place 2008 Herning Mixed team
Gold medal – first place 2009 Liverpool Mixed team
Gold medal – first place 2011 Amsterdam Mixed team
BWF profile

Career

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Laybourn won the 2006 European Badminton Championships in the mixed doubles with partner Kamilla Rytter Juhl. He also competed at the 2006 IBF World Championships in mixed doubles (with Juhl), and were defeated in the quarterfinals by Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms 14–21, 17–21.

Laybourn made his first appearance at the Olympic Games in 2008 Beijing in the mixed doubles event with Juhl. They defeated Singaporean pair Hendri Kurniawan Saputra and Li Yujia in the first round, but lost to Flandy Limpele and Vita Marissa of Indonesia in the quarter-finals with a close rubber games.[2]

His biggest success was the title in the 2009 World Championships in the mixed doubles with partner Kamilla Rytter Juhl. It was the first Danish World Championships win since 2003 when Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen won the men's doubles competition.

In 2012, Laybourn played at the London Olympics, reaching in to the quarter-finals stage with Partner Juhl. The duo beat Valiyaveetil Diju and Jwala Gutta of India, Lee Yong-dae and Ha Jung-eun of South Korea, and defeated by Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir of Indonesia to stand as runners-up in Group C. They then lost to eventual gold medalists Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei of China in the quarter-finals in straight games.[2] After the London Olympic, Laybourn retired from the international competitions.[3]

Laybourn created a site named Badminton Famly to share knowledge, opinions, and tips about badminton. Badminton Famly also active on several platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook.[4]

Achievements

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BWF World Championships

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Mixed doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2009 Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad, India   Kamilla Rytter Juhl   Nova Widianto
  Liliyana Natsir
21–13, 21–17   Gold

European Championships

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Mixed doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2006 Maaspoort Sports and Events,
Den Bosch, Netherlands
  Kamilla Rytter Juhl   Jens Eriksen
  Mette Schjoldager
22–20, 21–15   Gold
2010 Manchester Evening News Arena,
Manchester, England
  Kamilla Rytter Juhl   Robert Mateusiak
  Nadieżda Kostiuczyk
21–19, 18–21, 21–12   Gold
2012 Telenor Arena,
Karlskrona, Sweden
  Kamilla Rytter Juhl   Mads Pieler Kolding
  Julie Houmann
21–16, 19–21, 18–21   Bronze

BWF Superseries

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The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007,[5] is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries levels are Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consists of twelve tournaments around the world that have been introduced since 2011.[6] Successful players are invited to the Superseries Finals, which are held at the end of each year.

Mixed doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2007 Korea Open   Kamilla Rytter Juhl   Zheng Bo
  Gao Ling
20–22, 19–21   Runner-up
2008 Indonesia Open   Kamilla Rytter Juhl   Zheng Bo
  Gao Ling
14–21, 8–21   Runner-up
2008 Denmark Open   Kamilla Rytter Juhl   Joachim Fischer Nielsen
  Christinna Pedersen
14–21, 17–21   Runner-up
2008 World Superseries Masters Finals   Kamilla Rytter Juhl   Nova Widianto
  Lilyana Natsir
21–19, 18–21, 22–20   Winner
2010 Malaysia Open   Kamilla Rytter Juhl   Tao Jiaming
  Zhang Yawen
21–19, 18–21, 15–21   Runner-up
2010 Singapore Open   Kamilla Rytter Juhl   Nova Widianto
  Lilyana Natsir
21–12, 21–15   Winner
2010 Denmark Open   Kamilla Rytter Juhl   Nathan Robertson
  Jenny Wallwork
21–12, 12–21, 21–9   Winner
2012 All England Open   Kamilla Rytter Juhl   Tontowi Ahmad
  Liliyana Natsir
17–21, 19–21   Runner-up
  BWF Superseries Finals tournament
  BWF Superseries Premier tournament
  BWF Superseries tournament

BWF Grand Prix

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The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) which was held from 2007 to 2017. The World Badminton Grand Prix sanctioned by International Badminton Federation (IBF) from 1983 to 2006.

Men's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2004 Dutch Open   Peter Steffensen   Howard Bach
  Tony Gunawan
8–15, 7–15   Runner-up
2006 Singapore Open   Lars Paaske   Sigit Budiarto
  Flandy Limpele
8–21, 16–21   Runner-up

Mixed doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2004 Dutch Open   Kamilla Rytter Juhl   Peter Steffensen
  Lena Frier Kristiansen
15–11, 15–7   Winner
2005 All England Open   Kamilla Rytter Juhl   Nathan Robertson
  Gail Emms
10–15, 12–15   Runner-up
2005 Thailand Open   Kamilla Rytter Juhl   Lee Jae-jin
  Lee Hyo-jung
12–15, 12–15   Runner-up
2005 Denmark Open   Kamilla Rytter Juhl   Lars Paaske
  Helle Nielsen
15–8, 15–9   Winner
2006 Macau Open   Kamilla Rytter Juhl   Zhang Jun
  Gao Ling
21–19, 22–20   Winner
2006 Denmark Open   Kamilla Rytter Juhl   Anthony Clark
  Donna Kellogg
21–14, 14–21, 20–22   Runner-up
2007 Chinese Taipei Open   Kamilla Rytter Juhl   Flandy Limpele
  Vita Marissa
18–21, 23–25   Runner-up
2011 Bitburger Open   Kamilla Rytter Juhl   Chan Peng Soon
  Goh Liu Ying
18–21, 21–14, 25–27   Runner-up
2012 German Open   Kamilla Rytter Juhl   Lee Yong-dae
  Ha Jung-eun
21–9, 21–16   Winner
  BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament
  BWF & IBF Grand Prix tournament

IBF International

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Men's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2003 Finnish International   Jesper Thomsen   Mikhail Kelj
  Victor Maljutin
11–15, 12–15   Runner-up

Mixed doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2001 Iceland International   Karina Sørensen   Aqueel Bhatti
  Emma Hendry
7–2, 7–4, 7–1   Winner
2003 Finnish International   Julie Houmann   Kasper Ødum
  Lene Mørk
11–5, 11–8   Winner

Record against selected opponents

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Mixed doubles results with Kamilla Rytter Juhl against Superseries Final finalists, Worlds Semi-finalists, and Olympic quarterfinalists.[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Thomas Laybourn". badminton.dk (in Danish). Archived from the original on 11 October 2008. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  2. ^ a b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Thomas Laybourn". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 4 December 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  3. ^ Røsler, Manuel; Lin, Jan (18 July 2013). "Thinking out of the box to stay in the game". badmintoneurope.com. Archived from the original on 6 November 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  4. ^ "The beginning of the Adventure". badmintonfamly.com. 11 April 2019. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  5. ^ "BWF Launches Super Series". Badminton Australia. 15 December 2006. Archived from the original on 6 October 2007.
  6. ^ "Yonex All England Elevated To BWF Premier Super Series Event". www.ibadmintonstore.com. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  7. ^ "Thomas Laybourn head to head". tournamentsoftware.com. Retrieved 22 September 2006.
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