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Imogen Bankier

Imogen Bankier
Personal information
Country  Scotland
Born (1987-11-18) 18 November 1987 (age 29)
Scotland Glasgow, Scotland
Height 5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Handedness Right
Coach Pete Jeffrey
Mixed doubles
Highest ranking 10 (5 April 2012)
Current ranking N/A (Retired)
BWF profile

Imogen Bankier (born 18 November 1987 in Glasgow) is a former female badminton player from Scotland. After starting playing the sport at the age of 9, Bankier won the national championships at every age level from Under 17 upwards. The highlight of her professional career so far was reaching the final of the mixed doubles at the 2011 World Championships in Wembley, London. She and her partner Chris Adcock were defeated in the match by the Chinese team of Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei.

Milton Keynes based Bankier is right handed, 5 ft 7in tall and uses equipment manufactured by Yonex, one of her sponsors. Her other sponsor is Glenkeir Whiskies which is run by her father, Celtic chairman Ian Bankier. Imogen was one of several high-profile British and International players to speak out against the Badminton World Federation's plan to force female players to wear short skirts. The BWF claimed the move was aimed at "raising badminton's profile and that of women players" whereas Bankier hit back "I will fight to make sure this dated and simply sexist rule does not happen."

Bankier started playing badminton at the age of nine in what she describes as "very competitive Bankier family games in the back garden." Before competing at senior level in 2007 she won women's doubles and mixed doubles titles in the Under-17, Under-19, Under-21 and Under-23 age groups as well as various international open championships in doubles. Since making the step up she has taken a total of sixteen Scottish titles, six coming in the women's doubles and ten in the mixed doubles.

Bankier's first major international tournament was the 2008 European Badminton Championships in Herning, Denmark where she lost out to the English pair in the quarter-finals of both doubles tournaments. She returned to compete in the mixed doubles at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India where she again fell to an English pairing (who would go on to win silver) in the quarter-finals.


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Wikipedia

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