Billy Gilliland (born 27 March 1957) is a former badminton player from Scotland who excelled from the mid-1970s through the mid-1980s.

Billy Gilliland
Personal information
CountryScotland
Born (1957-03-27) 27 March 1957 (age 67)
Greenock, Renfrewshire, Scotland
Medal record
Men's badminton
Representing  Great Britain
World Games
Bronze medal – third place 1981 Santa Clara Men's doubles
Representing  Scotland
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 1986 Edinburgh Men's doubles
Silver medal – second place 1978 Edmonton Mixed doubles
Bronze medal – third place 1986 Edinburgh Mixed doubles
European Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1984 Preston Men's doubles
Bronze medal – third place 1978 Preston Mixed doubles
Bronze medal – third place 1980 Groningen Mixed doubles

Career

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Although he won the Scottish national singles title in 1979, the tall, angular Gilliland was a doubles specialist at the international level with his greatest success coming in mixed doubles. Gilliland won mixed doubles at the prestigious All-England Championships with England's Nora Perry in 1985.[1] He had previously reached the All-England final in both men's doubles and mixed doubles in 1982.[2] He was a mixed doubles bronze medalist at the 1977 IBF World Championships with Joanna Flockhart.[3] Though he won numerous tournaments abroad, perhaps Gilliland's most impressive badminton accomplishment was sharing twelve consecutive Scottish national mixed doubles titles equally with two partners, between 1976 and 1987. With regular partner Dan Travers, he won nine Scottish national men's doubles titles during that period, and men's doubles at the Commonwealth Games in 1986. He now coaches badminton in a badminton academy.

Achievements

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World Games

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Men's doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
1981 San Jose Civic Auditorium, California, United States   Dan Travers   Thomas Kihlström
  Stefan Karlsson
15–10, 0–15, 9–15   Bronze

IBF World Grand Prix

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The World Badminton Grand Prix sanctioned by International Badminton Federation (IBF) from 1983 to 2006.

Men's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
1984 Dutch Open   Dipak Tailor   Michael Kjeldsen
  Mark Christiansen
9–15, 15–7, 17–18   Runner-up
1984 Canada Open   Dan Travers   Razif Sidek
  Jalani Sidek
11–15, 9–15   Runner-up
1985 Canada Open   Dan Travers   Jens Peter Nierhoff
  Henrik Svarrer
12–15, 11–15   Runner-up
1985 Scottish Open   Dan Travers   Michael Kjeldsen
  Mark Christiansen
2–15, 4–15   Runner-up
1986 Dutch Open   Dan Travers   He Xiangyang
  Tang Hai
13–18, 9–15   Runner-up
1986 Scottish Open   Dan Travers   Jesper Knudsen
  Henrik Svarrer
10–15, 10–15   Runner-up

References

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  1. ^ Steve Baddeley, "All England Championships," World Badminton, June 1985, 8, 9.
  2. ^ Pat Davis, "All change at Wembley," World Badminton, June 1982, 12, 13.
  3. ^ "worldbadminton.net". Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 21 October 2008.
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