Roger J Mills (1942-2020) was a former English international

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...

player and coach.

Badminton career

Mills won 9 English National titles, Singles three years running, 1965, 1966, and 1967, Men's Doubles 1967 and 1970 plus Mixed Doubles 1965, 1968, 1969 and 1971. Roger was a Winston Churchill Fellow which he gained in 1974 for his contribution to badminton. https://www.wcmt.org.uk/users/roger-jmills1974 He won the 1969 All England Badminton Championships in mixed doubles with

Gillian Perrin Gillian Gilks (formerly Gillian Perrin, and later Gillian Goodwin; born 20 June 1950) is an English former badminton player who won numerous major titles in all three events (singles, doubles, and mixed doubles) between the late 1960s and the ...

when this tournament was considered the sport's premier event (aside from the international team world championships,

Thomas Cup The Thomas Cup, sometimes called the World Men's Team Championships, is an international badminton competition among teams representing member nations of the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the sport's global governing body. The championships h ...

and

Uber Cup The Uber Cup, sometimes called the World Women's Team Championships, is a major international badminton competition contested by women's national badminton teams. First held in 1956–1957 and contested at three year intervals, it has been contes ...

). Mills competed in 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. They were followed by the 1966 Commonwealth P ...

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...

winning the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

, in the mixed doubles with

Angela Bairstow Angela Bairstow (1942-2016) was an English international badminton player. Badminton career She first came to prominence in 1958 when she won the English National Junior singles title. Further wins followed in 1959 and 1960; in addition she wo ...

and a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

, in the men's doubles with David Horton. Four years later he won a

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

, in the mixed doubles with Perrin at the

1970 British Commonwealth Games The 1970 British Commonwealth Games (Scottish Gaelic: Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis Bhreatainn 1970) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, from 16 to 25 July 1970. This was the first time the name British Commonwealth Games was adopted, the first tim ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. He represented Surrey and spent many of his years coaching in Surrey, most notably at Guildford University and at the Wimbledon Squash and Badminton Centre. After his playing career, Roger continued his love of the sport of Badminton by becoming one of the leading coaches in the country where he took the position of Senior English National Coach before moving his focus to the development of youth badminton. In addition, Roger was the Part-Time Scottish National Coach in 1976 until 1980 where he provided new age coaching techniques to a generation of Scottish Badminton champions. Roger's coaching and dedication to Badminton resulted in the development of many Champions at all ages and levels. Roger has written and published a number of books on badminton and is
Winston Churchill Fellowship

All England Badminton Championships

Commonwealth Games

English National Badminton Championships

''Juniors''

Open Badminton Championships

Winston Churchill Fellow

The Fellowship was created by public subscription in 1965 as the living legacy of Sir Winston Churchill. ‘We are empowering individuals to learn from the world, for the benefit of the UK. Today this idea is more valuable than ever’. Roger was awarded the Winston Churchill Fellowship for his overseas research on Badminton in China.

Published Books

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mills, Roger English male badminton players 1942 births Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in badminton Living people Badminton players at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Badminton players at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games