Derek Talbot (born 23 March 1947) is a former English

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...

player. One of Britain's most successful "all-rounders," he won eleven English National Championships four singles, three doubles, and four mixed doubles. He also won four

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

gold medals and in partnership with the formidable

Gillian Gilks Gillian Gilks (formerly Gillian Perrin, and later Gillian Goodwin; born 20 June 1950) is an English former badminton player who won numerous major titles in all three events (singles, doubles, and mixed doubles) between the late 1960s and the ...

he won three mixed doubles crowns at the prestigious All-England Open (1973, 1976, and 1977).

Career

World Championships

He won a silver medal in the 1977 IBF World Championships in mixed doubles with

, losing against Steen Skovgaard and

Lene Køppen Lene Køppen (born 5 May 1953) is a former badminton player from Denmark who won numerous Danish national and major international championships from the early 1970s through the early 1980s. Noted for her speed and athleticism, she and Camilla Mar ...

in the final.

1972 Summer Olympics

Talbot competed in badminton at the 1972 Summer Olympics, where badminton was played as a demonstration sport. In men's doubles he and Elliot Stuart, his former schoolfellow in Newcastle upon Tyne, were defeated in the semifinals by Ade Chandra and Christian Hadinata 15–8, 15–12. In mixed doubles he paired with

and they won the gold medal, beating Svend Pri and Ulla Strand of

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in the final 15–6, 18–16.

Commonwealth Games

Derek Talbot was also successful at the

, he won 4 gold medals, a silver medal and two bronze medals between 1970 and 1978.

Major achievements

International tournaments

''Men's doubles''

Post-Badminton

Towards the latter stages of his badminton career Derek ran a sports shop, which specialised in racket sports, with ex-South African badminton internationalist Eddie Allen, and local man Neil Woodward, in Newcastle. They sold their own Vicourt badminton rackets. When he retired from serious competition, he set up his own badminton company called ''Talbot Torro Badminton''. In recent years Derek left his more traditional career behind and ultimately set up the Natural Patient homeopathic centre in Ibiza. He was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to badminton.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Talbot, Derek English male badminton players Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Badminton players at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Badminton players at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games Badminton players at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Living people Badminton players at the 1972 Summer Olympics Members of the Order of the British Empire Commonwealth Games medallists in badminton 1947 births