Henry Paynter from Westbank, British Columbia and a long-time member of the Summerland Badminton Club has just recently competed in the 96th All England Senior Open Badminton Championships 2012 where he won the 60+ Men’s Singles.
Paynter is the first Canadian to ever win an All-England Championship.
The tournament was held at Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire April 19 to 22.
The 60+ men’s singles entry was comprised of three pools with three players in Pool A, three players in Pool B and four players in Pool C.
Paynter began the tournament in Pool C where he defeated Stephen Sellick of England 21-19; 21-15, Per Dabelsteen of Denmark 21-15; 17-21; 21-16 and John Napier of Scotland 21-12; 21-18.
As winner of Pool C, Paynter was then entered into the main draw where he defeated the second seed Brian Wallwork of England 21-14; 17-21; 6-14 (Retired) in the semi-final and then went on to defeat the No. 1 seed Christian Hansen of Denmark 21-12; 23-21 in the final.
Paynter has been a member of the Summerland Badminton Club for more than 40 years.
He has also won Canadian badminton titles over the years with his men’s doubles partner Kevin Hancock, also a long-time member of the Summerland Badminton Club.
More information on the All England tournament is available at be.tourna-mentsoftware.com