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(Photo: National Badminton Museum) Gillian Gilks (left) and Nora Perry (right) at the 1980 All England Championships
EC Legends: Gillian Gilks
Date: 4/12/2021 2:58 PM
Published by : Alan Raftery
With just two weeks until the 2021 European Championships, what better way to prepare than dipping into the exceptional career of the player sitting at the top of the all-time medal table. 

Gillian Gilks (née Perrin) was born on 20 June 1950, in London, England. Her badminton talent was clearly seen very early on. By the age of 14, she had won both the U15 and U18 All England Junior titles. 

Her first senior All England title was in mixed doubles with Rogers Mills at the age of 18. Known for her success across the maximum of three categories – women’s singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles – in 1976 Gilks managed the triple crown at the All England and remains the last player to have achieved this. This special moment can be watched here

Gilks also made a lasting mark on the European stage, making her first appearance in both doubles finals at the first-ever European Championships in 1968 when she was just shy of 18 years old. She would then go on to collect a total of 12 titles at the European Championships from 1972 to 1986, winning golds in Sweden, Austria, Ireland, Germany and England. In second place on the medals table is Kamilla Rytter Juhl with a total of seven titles. 

Olympics
Gilks is regarded as one of the world’s best players of her era, winning silver and bronze medals at the World Championships. however, the gold eluded her. With the first inclusion of badminton at the Olympics coming only in 1992, badminton was first held as a demonstration sport at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. 

Fresh from winning the women’s doubles and mixed doubles gold at the 1972 European Championships in Karlskrona, Sweden, Gilks secured a gold medal in the mixed doubles with Derek Talbot. In the singles, she lost to Noriko Nakayama of Japan in the semifinal by the narrow margin of 3-11, 11-8, 9-11. 

When asked about her exceptional on-court anticipation, Gilks answered. 

-In mixed doubles, an incredible percentage of shots can be cut off at the net if only you anticipate intelligently and have a go; provided always that your partner is ready to back up when you guess wrong and that you are not over-ambitious if it happens to be an off-day.

Global recognition
In 1976, Gilks was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire for her services in badminton. 

In 1986, Gilks was awarded the IBF [today called the BWF] Distinguished Service Award and inducted into the IBF Hall of Fame in 1999. 

In April 2014, Gilks was inducted into the Badminton Europe Hall of Fame, receiving the honour alongside players such as Erland Kops, Lene Køppen, Morten Frost, Nora Perry, Peter Gade and Mike Tredgett. 

The 2021 European Championships will take place in Kyiv, Ukraine from 27 April to 2 May. For more information about the 2021 European Championships, click here

All matches can be watched here.

©badmintoneurope.com. All rights reserved.

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