Richard Howard Purser (born 28 February 1942) is a New Zealand

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

player who has won 33 New Zealand national badminton titles, including the men's singles on nine occasions. He competed at four consecutive Commonwealth Games, from 1966 to 1978, and won the bronze medal in the men's doubles with his brother, Bryan Purser, at the

1978 Commonwealth Games The 1978 Commonwealth Games were held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, from 3 to 12 August, two years after the 1976 Summer Olympics was held in Montreal, Quebec. They were boycotted by Nigeria, in protest at New Zealand's sporting contacts with a ...

Early life and family

Purser was born in

New Plymouth New Plymouth () is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, in Devon, from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. The New Pl ...

on 28 February 1942, the son of Betty Purser (née Cochran) and Howard Musgrave Purser. He was educated at

New Plymouth Boys' High School New Plymouth Boys' High School is a single-sex boys' state secondary school in New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand. The school currently caters for approximately 1300 students, including 210 boarders, on its site. The school often collaborat ...

, where he excelled at tennis and badminton. Purser's brother, Bryan, and nephew, Craig Cooper, have also represented New Zealand in badminton. His nephew, Mark Purser, is a golfer who represented New Zealand in the

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958 Eisenhower Trophy, 1958, it is nam ...

before turning professional.

Badminton

Purser won national junior badminton titles in 1958 and 1959. He won the first of his 33 senior New Zealand national badminton championship titles in 1962, that year winning the men's singles and mixed doubles, with Margaret Moorhead. Purser went on to win the New Zealand men's singles title nine times. In February 1970, Purser was named the Taranaki sportsman of the year. Purser represented New Zealand at four Commonwealth Games between 1966 and 1978. At the

1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Kingston, Jamaica, from 4 to 13 August 1966. This was the first time that the Games had been held outside the so-called White Dominions. The event was followed by the 1966 Commonweal ...

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

, he lost his opening matches in the men's singles, men's doubles and mixed doubles. Four years later, at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, he fared better, reaching the quarter-finals of the men's singles before losing to the eventual gold medalist, Jamie Paulson from Canada. In both the men's doubles and mixed doubles, he was eliminated in the round of 16. In 1974, at the British Commonwealth Games in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, Purser was again defeated by Jamie Paulson in the quarter-finals. In the men's doubles, partnering his brother Bryan, he was eliminated in the round of 16, while in the mixed doubles he and partner

Alison Branfield Alison may refer to: People * Alison (given name), including a list of people with the name * Alison (surname) Music * ''Alison'' (album), aka ''Excuse Me'', a 1975 album by Australian singer Alison MacCallum * "Alison" (song), song by Elvi ...

finished fourth, losing the bronze medal play-off to the English combination of

Susan Whetnall Susan Whetnall (born 11 December 1942 in Swanley, née Susan Pound) is a former English badminton player, noted for her anticipation and shot-making ability, who won numerous international titles in doubles and mixed doubles from the mid-1960s ...

and

Elliot Stuart Elliot Clarke Stuart (born 1946) is a former English international badminton player. Badminton career Stuart was a winner of the All England Open Badminton Championships. He won the 1975 All England Badminton Championships mixed doubles with ...

. At his final Commonwealth Games, in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, Purser reached the quarter-finals of the men's singles, again finished fourth in the mixed doubles with Alison Branfield, and won the bronze medal with his brother Bryan in the men's doubles. In the mixed teams event, Purser was a part of the New Zealand team that finished fourth, losing to Malaysia in the play-off for the bronze medal. In 2003, after running summer badminton training camps in Austria for 14 years, Purser returned to New Zealand and competed in the men's doubles, paired with

Phil Horne Philip Andrew Horne (born 21 January 1960) is a former New Zealand cricketer who played in 4 Test cricket, Tests and 4 One Day International, ODIs from 1987 to 1990. He also represented New Zealand in badminton at the 1986 Commonwealth Games. H ...

, at the North Harbour Open. In 2007, Purser, then aged 65, and Horne competed at the New Zealand Open, reaching the round of 16.

Squash

Purser began playing squash in New Plymouth as part of his training for badminton. He went on to represent New Zealand at masters level. At the 2001 World Masters Squash Championships in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Purser won the men's 55–59 age group title. In 2009, he won the men's 65–69 category at the World Masters Squash Championships, held in Christchurch.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Purser, Richard 1942 births Living people People educated at New Plymouth Boys' High School Badminton players at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Badminton players at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Badminton players at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games Badminton players at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for New Zealand New Zealand male badminton players Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in badminton New Zealand male squash players Senior sport competitors Medallists at the 1978 Commonwealth Games 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen