Oscar Roël Brandon (born 8 August 1971) is a Surinamese badminton player, coach and Olympic team manager. He competed for Suriname at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

as a badminton player in the Men's singles event. And he was "chef de mission" (team manager) for Suriname at the 2012 Summer Olympics in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and the 2016 Summer Olympics in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

Early years

At the age of six Oscar Brandon accompanied his dad to the badminton "Ismay van Wilgen sportshall" and when he turned 12 years old became a member of the SCVU (Sociaal Culturele Vereniging Uitvlugt) badminton club at the outskirts of the city of

Paramaribo Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname' ...

. There he nurtured his talent under guidance and supervision of trainer and coach "Ma Lefi". He quickly became a junior champ and was then soon included in the National Juniors Squad of Suriname for centralized training.

Career

His first big international success came in 1988 as a junior player winning the Carebaco juniors event in boys singles. In 1990 he reached the semi-finals in Men's Singles at the 1990 CACSO Games in Mexico City. Unfortunately he lost the semi-final against experienced home player Ernesto de La Torre and then he lost the bronze medal match against Jamaican Robert Richards. After a short period of training and playing tournaments in the Netherlands, he decided to play a full year of badminton competition abroad in the Netherlands. There he was part of the famous BV van Zijderveld club in

Amstelveen Amstelveen () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands with a population of 92.353 as of 2022. It is a suburban part of the Amsterdam metropolitan area. The municipality of Amstelveen consists of the historical villages ...

. He won a record of ten National Men's Singles titles, the first in 1991 and then was undisputed from 1993 till 2001. In 1996 he received a wildcard to participate at the

a first in badminton for Suriname. At the Atlanta Olympics he would also become the first Olympic torch bearer for his country, participating in the

Olympic Torch Relay The Olympic torch relay is the ceremonial relaying of the Olympic flame from Olympia, Greece, to the site of an Olympic Games. It was first performed at the 1936 Summer Olympics, and has taken place prior to every Games since. Although in the pa ...

in Miami. In the Men's Singles event at the

he lost his first match against Jamie Dawson of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

5–15, 4–15. In 1998 he became "Sportsman of the Year" in Suriname after reaching the 62nd place on the badminton world ranking, by winning the first edition of the

Suriname International The Suriname International Badminton Tournament is a Pan American Circuit badminton event first held inaugural in 1998 at the Anthony Nesty Indoor Stadium in Paramaribo, Suriname. The Suriname International Badminton Tournament is now held annual ...

and reaching the final of the

Argentina International The Argentina International is an open badminton tournament held in Argentina. The tournament has been a Pan American Badminton Circuit Future level event from 1997 till 2000. In 2012–2013, this tournament has been a BWF Future Series level by the ...

. That year 1998 he also won both the

and Brazil International São Paulo Cup 1998 in the mixed doubles event with Adrienn Kocsis a former Hungarian player playing for Peru. In 1999 Oscar Brandon participated in both the Pan Am Games and the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, a first for his country Suriname. Once again in 1999 he was chosen to be "Sportsman of the Year" in Suriname. In 2001 he was crowned "Badminton player of the century" in his native Suriname.

Achievements

1985

*Winner at the Carebaco Juniors Boys Doubles with Marlon Djojodiwongso of Suriname

1988

*Winner at the Carebaco Juniors Boys Singles *Winner at the Carebaco Juniors Boys Doubles with Eric Bleau of Suriname *Runner-Up at the Carebaco Juniors Mixed Doubles *Most Valuable Player Juniors Carebaco 1988

1989

*Winner (Golden medal) at the Junior Carifta Games 1989 Boys Single *Runner-Up (Silver medal) at the Junior Carifta Games 1989 Boys Doubles with Eric Bleau of Suriname *Semi-Final (Bronze medal) at the Junior Carifta Games 1989 Mixed Doubles with Letitia Wongsodimedjo of Suriname

1990

*4th Place at the 1990 CACSO Games Men's Singles

1992

*Winner at the Caribbean Easter Tournament Curacao Men's Singles *Semi-Final at the Carebaco International Men's Singles *Quarter-Final at the Carebaco International Men's Doubles with Veron Griffiths of

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

*Quarter-Final at the Carebaco International Mixed Doubles with E. Hoeymaakers of Curacao

1995

*First round at the Pan Am Games Men's Singles

1996

*First round at the

Men's Singles

1997

*Quarter-Final at the Peru International Men's Singles and Men's Doubles with Alejandro Elias of

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

*Semi-Final at the Carebaco International Men's Doubles with Eric Bleau of Suriname *Quarter-Final at the Carebaco International Men's Singles *Quarter-Final at the Guatemala International Men's Singles and Men's Doubles with Anil Seepaul of

Trinidad & Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of Gr ...

*Semi-Final at the Guatemala International Mixed Doubles with Shackera Cupidon of

1998

*Quarter-Final at the Peru International Men's Doubles with Pieter van Soerland of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

*Quarter-Final at the Peru International Mixed Doubles with Nigella Saunders of

*Runner-Up at the Carebaco International Mixed Doubles with Nathalie Haynes of Suriname *Semi-Final at the Carebaco International Men's Singles and Men's Doubles with Derrick Stjeward of Suriname *Winner at the Brazil International São Paulo Cup 1998 Mixed Doubles with Adrienn Kocsis of

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

*Semi-Final at the Brazil International São Paulo Cup 1998 Men's Doubles with Leandro Santos of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

*Runner-Up at the South American Badminton Championships Men's Doubles with Derrick Stjeward of Suriname *Runner-Up at the

Men's Singles *Winner at the

Mixed Doubles with Adrienn Kocsis of

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

*Semi-Final at the

Men's Doubles with Jorge Meyer of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

*Winner at the

Men's Singles *Semi-Final at the

Men's Doubles with Derrick Stjeward of Suriname *Quarter-Final at the

Mixed Doubles with Nathalie Haynes of Suriname

1999

*Qualification round at the 1999 IBF World Championships Men's Singles and Men's Doubles with Derrick Stjeward of Suriname *First round at the Pan Am Games Men's Singles and Men's Doubles with Derrick Stjeward of Suriname *Second round at the Pan Am Games Mixed Doubles with Nathalie Haynes of Suriname *Quarter-Final at the Carebaco International Men's Singles and Men's Doubles with Derrick Stjeward of Suriname *Semi-Final at the

Jamaica International The Jamaica International is an open international badminton tournament in Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean ( ...

Mixed Doubles with Kristal Karjohn of

2001

*Semi-Final at the Carebaco International Men's Singles

2003

*Semi-Final at the

Mixed Doubles with Stephanie Jadi of Suriname

2008

*Semi-Final at the

Men's Doubles with Jair Liew of Suriname

2009

*Runner-Up at the

Men's Doubles with Raul Rampersad of

*Semi-Final at the

Mixed Doubles with Danielle Melchiot of Suriname

2013

*Semi-Final at the

Mixed Doubles with Stephanie Jadi of Suriname

Achievements with results

BWF International Challenge/Series

''Men's singles'' ''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles'' : BWF International Challenge tournament : BWF International Series tournament : BWF Future Series tournament

Post-playing career

After his active career Oscar Brandon became a badminton coach, team manager and politician for his country. In November 1998 he was chosen as a member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

, the Parliament, representing the legislative branch of government in Suriname. He is also a member of the Suriname Olympic Committee and took up the "chef de mission" (team manager) role for Suriname at the

2010 Central American and Caribbean Games The 21st Central American and Caribbean Games (Spanish: ''XXI Juegos Centroamericanos y del Caribe, Mayagüez 2010'') took place in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, from 18 July 2010 to 1 August 2010. Bid It was understood that Mayagüez was going to b ...

, the

2010 Summer Youth Olympics The 2010 Summer Youth Olympics ( ta, 2010 கோடைக்கால இளையோர் ஒலிம்பிக் விளையாட்டுக்கள் ms, Sukan Olimpik Belia Musim Panas 2010), officially known as the I Summer ...

, the

2010 South American Games The IX South American Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Sudamericanos''; Portuguese: ''Jogos Sul-Americanos'') was a multi-sport event held between 19 and 30 March 2010 in Medellín, Colombia. The Games were organized by the South American Sports Org ...

, the 2012 Summer Olympics, the

2014 Central American and Caribbean Games The 22nd Central American and Caribbean Games were held November 14–30, 2014 in Veracruz, Mexico.Sport page

, the
2014 South American Games The 2014 South American Games was a multi-sport event that took place in Santiago, Chile. It was the 10th edition of the ODESUR South American Games. Santiago hosted this event for the second time, the first being in 1986. Most of the events too ...
, the
2014 Summer Youth Olympics The 2014 Summer Youth Olympics (), officially known as the II Summer Youth Olympic Games , and commonly known as Nanjing 2014 ( zh, c=南京2014, p=Nánjīng Èr Líng yī sì), were the second Youth Olympic Games, Summer Youth Olympic Games, an ...
, the
2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak al ...
and the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Personal life
Oscar Brandon is married and the couple have a son Shawn, who occasionally also participated in the National Badminton Circuit of Suriname and was also selected as a junior international to participate in the Carebaco Games.

References
*

External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brandon, Oscar Surinamese male badminton players Badminton players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic badminton players for Suriname Badminton players at the 1999 Pan American Games Badminton players at the 1995 Pan American Games Pan American Games competitors for Suriname Competitors at the 1990 Central American and Caribbean Games Sportspeople from Paramaribo 1971 births Living people