Nathan Robertson


Nathan James Robertson from Cotgrave in Nottinghamshire is a retired English badminton player who has achieved international success in both the men's events and the mixed doubles event. He was educated at Dayncourt School Specialist Sports College.

Career

2004

His best results include winning gold at the 2004 European Championships in Geneva, and a silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games, both partnering Gail Emms in the mixed doubles. He has won six medals at the Commonwealth Games, and has won the last four men's doubles and the last two mixed doubles at the English National Badminton Championships.

2004 Summer Olympics

Robertson competed in badminton at the 2004 Summer Olympics in men's doubles with partner Anthony Clark. They defeated Sudket Prapakamol and Patapol Ngernsrisuk of Thailand in the first round, then were defeated in the round of 16 by Eng Hian and Flandy Limpele of Indonesia, who had previously represented England for a brief period.
He also competed in mixed doubles with Emms. They had a bye in the first round and defeated Björn Siegemund and Nicol Pitro of Germany in the second. In the quarterfinals, Robertson and Emms beat Chen Qiqiu and Zhao Tingting of China 15-8, 17-15 to advance to the semifinals. There, they beat Jonas Rasmussen and Rikke Olsen of Denmark 15-6, 15-12. In the final, they lost to Chinese pair Zhang Jun and Gao Ling 15-1, 12-15, 15-12 to finish with the silver medal.

2005 World Championships

At the 2005 World Championships, he and Emms began the tournament as Number 1 seeds. However, after getting a bye into the second round, he received an ankle injury during practice and they were forced to withdraw.

2006

The 2006 Commonwealth Games brought Robertson a Silver in the team event and a Gold in the mixed doubles with Emms.
The same year, he won the gold medal at the 2006 IBF World Championships together with Emms. They beat Anthony Clark and Donna Kellogg 21-15, 21-12 in the final.

2008 Beijing Games

Emms and Robertson did well in their first match in the mixed doubles with a win over the Chinese pairing who were world number 2. The 2006 world champions took the first game 21-16 before Gao Ling and Zheng Bo hit back to win the second 21-16.
The British duo found themselves 12-17 down in the decider only to show great powers of recovery to triumph 21-19.
Along with his partner, Gail Emms, they lost out on a medal at the quarter final stage.

2009 World Badminton Championship

Robertson was part of the English team forced to withdraw from the 2009 BWF World Championships held in Hyderabad, India because of a terrorist threat.

Racket

Nathan Robertson used the Carlton Fireblade Tour racket.

Retirement

Nathan Robertson announced his retirement on 5 June 2012.

Achievements

World Championships

Men's doubles
YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult
1999Brøndby Arena, Copenhagen, Denmark Simon Archer Lee Dong-soo
Yoo Yong-sung		11–15, 8–15 Bronze