News

A Tribute to John Gordon

Age: 28

Born 25th November 1978

Association: Bay of Plenty / Waitakere

Background: John Gordon recently retired from the NZ team and joins a prestigious line up of talented players that retired from NZ play after the 2006 Commonwealth Games including Rebecca Bellingham, Nicole Gordon, Sara Runesten-Petersen and Geoff Bellingham. John's career was hindered by an Achilles rupture in 2005 which prevented him from playing in the 2006 games and one factor that eventually led to him retiring from the game this year.

John has played in events all over the world with 32 international experiences for NZ. His doubles partnerships with Daniel Shirley saw them reach 6th in the world at one stage. But more than that he performed consistently over a number of years on the international stage and along with his team mates helped not only achieve great results but raise the profile of the game back home in NZ.

What the results and rankings don't show is the passion for the game that John brought to the game especially when playing for NZ teams. His passion for playing for his country was an inspiration to others around him and to spectators and young players watching from the stands.

He has played all round the world including Swiss Open, Japan Open, China Open, Australian Internationals, Thomas Cup, Commonwealth Games, All England Open, Sudirman Cup, Hong Kong Open to name a few.

Quote from Svend Sorensen

(All the Way From Denmark Svend is a World Class Coach and former Director of Coaching and Reserve Squad Coach for Badminton NZ)

"If there is one thing I would give my right arm to have on video (and would put it right on You Tube) is where John beats German Mark Zwiebeler, in the Thomas Cup 2004. Mark was the big man in Europe. John beat him 15-9,15-0. Apparently when he won a big rally he had a celebrating scene that took around 30 seconds split into 5 or 6 major screams. John Gordon always put the emotion into badminton which is one of the things that I have always valued. The fact he could manage his way around in both singles and doubles as a doubles player makes him a big fighter in my mind."

What Stands Out as a Highlight for You in Your Badminton Career?

Well the 2002 Commonwealth games was special, we had a really good team in Manchester and we performed very well. Obviously we also picked up medals there but the team itself was very strong. After those games we had a lot of retirements with Rhona, Nick Hall, Tammy etc. We also had a lot of support there being in England and that was quite special having traveled all that way.

In 2004 at the Thomas cup was a special event for another reason as it was a really unique experience. We had another really good group of people in the team and a great atmosphere as well. Playing the Thomas Cup finals in Indonesia was an amazing and unique experience and makes it really stand out in my mind. There were crowds of thousands of people watching.

During the tournament John Moody had been filmed on TV and was part of the replays or highlights package. So when we were going to the stadium on the team bus people in the street were pointing at John on the bus - ha ha that was quite funny but John seemed to take it all in his stride. Then later, in the hotel, we got a call for someone to talk to a "John". The team thought it was for me so I went down assuming it was a reporter but it turned out it was a fan. This girl just wanted to chat to someone in the team about random stuff. We never did find out if it was me or John M that she wanted to talk to ha ha so after that we were a little bit wary of phone calls.

Whyte Trophy wins were always a highlight and we had a lot of them over Australia consistently beating them. They were all special and any losses to Australians in any situation were always more keenly felt by me than losses against other countries. I guess just because of the trans Tasman rivalry. It was especially satisfying if we saw a new coach with the Australian team with new ideas and then we would still go out and beat them anyway.

When Did You Achieve Your Highest Rankings?

Daniel and I made it up to 6th in the world in 2002 and if we had won the match in which I got my Achilles injury in 2005 we would have been 13th in the World.

Quote from Top NZ Rep Daniel Shirley

John was the guy aged 17 who said to himself I want to be a top badminton player and I am prepared to do whatever I have to do it! A great example of a guy who wasn't necessarily a top 14's or 16's junior but once decided he was going to give badminton a real go he wasn't going to let anything hold him back. I can recall numerous times when he would drive up after school from Rotorua for a two hour training session with the national reserve squad and then drive home afterwards-driving time 5-6 hours (although he did make out he could do it under 2 hours one way easy!!) so he could hit with the Auckland based players.

He was a player who loved to compete, who loved getting on the court against his opposition prepared to do whatever it would take to win and would never back down from confrontation. I believe he played his best when representing New Zealand in team events, you knew he would give his best and his all and he thrived in this environment.

One of the fondest memories I have in our long partnership together was 2002 Commonwealth Games quarter finals team match against India. We were 2-1 down going into the doubles with mens and ladies doubles remaining. John and I went out to play the doubles with the tie on the line and won our match in 5 sets (old scoring system 5 sets to 7) to tie the match 2-2 and the ladies doubles wrapped it up to secure a team medal!

What is It Like Looking Back on Your Career - You Seemed to a Player That Would also Help to Fire up a team

Ha ha yeah I was always one that voiced my opinions but I always had in mind what was best for the game in any given situation. I think I always played better in a team situation - I'm not sure why but it really meant a lot to me being part of a team and playing for NZ.

Looking back is hard because back on my career I feel that I could have done even better I've also had to deal with and overcome a lot of obstacles at times that have not always been easy. I'm happy that I made the decision to stop as my body couldn't keep up with the demands but I do feel that I could have done better if I hadn't had some bad luck. So there is a feeling of what could have been. But I also get a lot of satisfaction knowing that I achieved a lot. I am also very proud and happy to be have been a part of some really good teams and of what we have achieved. The legacy I leave I hope is not only my play internationally but that we helped in some way improve the badminton scene at home here in NZ.

Quote from Martin Andrew

(Back in NZ for the World Juniors - Martin was the former NZ National Coach and High Performance Director and now BADMINTON England's Junior Performance Coach)

John was one of those players that always got the very best out of himself and had a huge pride in playing for his country. He was not afraid to take on any opponent. Whether whether they were ranked above him or not never came into it he just wanted to perform on the international stage to the best of his ability. John was very motivated in team events for NZ and that is probably when he played some of his best badminton.

One game in the 2004 Thomas Cup Finals in Jakarta, Indonesia while playing 3rd singles saw him win the only match of that tie against Mark Zwiebeler.

John had a combative style and players like that can help lift a side especially in tough matches. His partnership with Daniel Shirley certainly was an important part of any team tie NZ were playing.

Do You Think the Term World Class Is Well Understood in NZ - How Would You Define a World Class Player?

That's a difficult one. I think world class is a misunderstood term often in NZ I tell Luke Charlesworth who I am coaching to think outside the NZ scene and look more international. To me World Class isn't really about ranking but about beating world class players. That is a hard thing to define but you know a world class player when you see one.

If trying to define it you could say it is maintaining a top ranking - probably top 12 in the world (for Doubles) for a long period of time is a sign you are world class.

What Makes A Good Player - Do You Have Any Advice For Up and

Coming Players?

The thing that I did - and it was really subconscious - was that I just really wanted to be a really good player and wanted to do everything I could to reach that level and play well at international level.

If I were giving advice to players coming through is that you really just have to want it and be willing to learn and work hard to get there. Also to take advantage of the fact that we are lucky to have a lot of players with experience in international play. To ask them for advice and tap into the wealth of knowledge that they have.

What Are You Doing Now?

I am doing a little bit of coaching with Luke Charlesworth and am enjoying that for now and I really enjoy helping him develop his talent he did really well this year at 21s and winning 16s was a great result. Apart from that I don't have a lot of spare time and am enjoying my job as a property lawyer for Russell McVeagh. Long term - and I'm talking a long way out - it would be really good to have earned enough money that I could just settle down and do coaching badminton full time but that is a long long way off.