Richard Purser

Richard Purser, who competed in four Commonwealth Games from 1966-78, is among the finest badminton players produced by New Zealand, and a remarkable all-round sportsman.

Purser grew up in New Plymouth in 1942, attending New Plymouth Boys’ High School. However, he ended up living in Auckland for many years.

Tall and solidly built with wrists of steel, he won 33 New Zealand senior national badminton titles from 1962-81. He claimed the men's singles 9 times, the doubles 10 times, mainly with his brother Bryan, and the mixed doubles 14 times, eight with Alison Branfield and three with her sister, Robin Denton. He was also a stalwart of New Zealand Thomas Cup and Whyte Trophy teams.

In the intense heat of the 1966 Empire Games in Kingston, he lost his opening matches in the singles to Suresh Goel of India 5-15, 18-15, 17-14. In the doubles, he and Don Higgins were beaten by Malaysians Tan Aik Huang and Yew Cheng Hoe, the eventual gold medallists, 15-7, 15-7. In the mixed, Purser and Alison Glenie (later Branfield) lost their first match to the Scottish pairing of Robert McCoig and Muriel Ferguson, the eventual bronze medallists, 15-4, 11-15, 15-8. Four years later, at the 1970 Edinburgh Commonwealth Games, Purser fared better, reaching the men’s singles quarter-finals. He beat Kenyan S Gulam 15-2, 15-3, Yeo Ah Seng of Singapore 15-0, 14-17, 15-10, and former world junior champion Satish Bhatia of India 15-7, 18-14 before losing to eventual gold medallist Jamie Paulson of Canada 15-9, 15-8. In the doubles, he and John Compton went down to Dave Charron and Rolf Paterson of Canada 5-15, 15-10, 15-9. Purser and Branfield were eliminated in their second match of the mixed. After beating Malaysians Boon Bee Ng and Rosalind Ang 15-12 in the third, an excellent result, they lost to England’s David Eddy and Susan Whetnall 15-12, 15-5.

By the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games, Purser was a respected player on the world stage. He was seeded in the men’s singles and won a see-sawing match first up against Englishman Michael Tredgett 15-12, 12-15, 15-5. Next he dispatched Moo Foot Lian of Malaysia 15-6, 15-10, before running into the second seed and defending champion Paulson. The Canadian beat Purser for the second Games running, this time 6-15, 15-10, 15-9.

In the men’s doubles, the Purser brothers had the misfortune to strike second seeds Derek Talbot and Elliot Stuart of England in their first match, and went down 15-10, 15-4. Purser and Branfield made good progress in the mixed doubles, beating Australians Peter Cooper and Joan Jones 13-15, 15-6, 15-2 and winning a long third round match against England’s Tredgett and Margaret Boxall 14-17, 15-12, 15-4. Into the quarter-finals, the New Zealanders rolled on, beating the seeded Scottish pairing of Fraser Gow and Christine Stewart 15-3, 15-7. Their run was ended by England’s Talbot and Gillian Gilks, the eventual gold medallists 15-1, 15-12. In the bronze medal play-off, Purser and Branfield lost to another English pairing, Elliot Stuart and Susan Whetnall, 15-10, 15-4.

Purser’s final Games as a player, though he was involved in future Games teams as a coach, was at Edmonton in 1978.

He made a good run in the singles, beating Australian Peter Cooper, Northern Irishman Frazer Evans and Canadian Keith Priestman to reach the quarter-finals. Unfortunately he

then met top seed and eventual gold medallist Prakash Padukone and went down 15-1, 15-8.

In the men’s doubles, the Purser brothers broke new ground for New Zealand, winning a bronze medal. They beat Canadians Jamie McKee and John Czich 15-12, 15-5 and Malaysians Abu Bakar Sulian and James Selvaraj 15-9, 15-8. In the semis the Pursers were no match for top-seeded Englishmen Ray Stevens and Mike Tredgett, losing 15-5, 15-8. In the bronze-medal play-off against England’s Derek Talbot and Kevin Jolly, they surprisingly ran away with the match 15-10, 11-15, 15-1.

Purser and Branfield again made good progress in the mixed. They beat Canadians Priestman and Sharon Crawford 2-1 and Greg Carter and Wendy Clarkson 2-0. However, the top-seeded Tredgett and Nora Perry comfortably beat them in the semi-final 15-2, 15-2. Into the bronze medal play-off, Purser and Branfield were beaten by Talbot and Barbara Sutton 15-9, 15-9.

There was also a mixed teams event at Edmonton. New Zealand lost to India 3-2 first up. Purser played in only the mixed doubles, and he and Branfield beat Partho Ganguli and Amy Ghia 15-3, 15-10.

New Zealand bounced back by beating Australia 3-2 with Purer supplying wins in the men’s doubles with his brother and in the mixed with Branfield. Next they beat Wales 5-0, with the Purser brothers providing the men’s doubles point.

That put them into the fourth round, against England. New Zealand were well beaten 5-0 with Purser and Branfield going down to Tredgett and Perry 9-15, 15-8,15-5.

New Zealand had done enough to qualify for the semis, where they were disappointed to lose 3-2 to Canada, despite a good win by Purser and Branfield over Lucio Fabris and Clarkson 15-11, 15-9.

In the bronze medal play-off New Zealand lost 4-1 to Malaysia with Purser and Branfield supplying the only win, over James Selveraj and Katherine Teh Swee 15-4, 15-4.

At the end of tournament, Richard Purser had played 20 matches in 10 days, winning 15 – not bad for a man of 36!

Though he continued to play and coach badminton, Purser played a lot of competitive squash as he got older. He’d been ranked as high as No 9 in New Zealand in 1974, at the height of his badminton powers, but his squash record as a master (veteran) was even more impressive. He won 16 national titles and two world titles, at Melbourne in 2001 in the 55–59 age group, and in 2009, in the 65–69 category at Christchurch.

Purser worked for many years in the family furnishing business in New Plymouth, but moved to Auckland in 1980. He worked in a sports shop there, but began a 25-year stint of travelling annually to Europe to coach. Though he was based in Austria, he coached all over Europe.

Purser is a life member of Badminton New Zealand. Two of Purser’s nephews have distinguished themselves in sport, Craig Cooper represented New Zealand in badminton and Mark Purser in golf.