// Workers AI · dad joke modeIs Bruce Topping a builder? He's a brick above.
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | British (Northern Irish) | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | 25 July 1968[1] Bulawyo, Zimbabwe[2] | |||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Badminton | |||||||||||||||||
| Club | Alpha BC, Lisburn | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||
Bruce Melvill Topping (born 25 July 1968), is a former international badminton player from Northern Ireland who competed at four Commonwealth Games and was a 19-time champion of Ireland.
Biography
[edit]Topping was a member of the Alpha Badminton Club in Lisburn,[3] although he did play for Hampshire as teenager while at college in England.[1]
Topping represented Ulster at provincial level[4] and all-Ireland at international level, winning the first of his 108 caps in November 1991 against Scotland.[1] His brother Mark Topping also won international honours.[5]
Topping went to the first of his four Commonwealth Games, when he was selected to play for the 1994 Northern Irish team[6] at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada,[7] where he competed in the badminton tournament.[8] He attended a second Commonwealth Games for the 1998 Northern Irish team[9] at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he competed in three events.[10]
Although he played singles (ranking number one in Ireland),[11] he was very successful at doubles, partnering Michael O'Meara, his brother Mark and Graham Henderson in the men's doubles and Ann Stephens, Claire Henderson and Jayne Plunkett in mixed doubles.[12]
Two further appearances ensued at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and 2006 Commonwealth Games before he announced his retirement from playing.[13]
At retirement he was a 19-times Irish champion at the Irish National Badminton Championships, winning the singles twice,[14] men's doubles eight times[15] and mixed doubles nine times.[16]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 "Austrian trio tops for Bruce". Ireland's Saturday Night. 2 January 1993. p. 4. Retrieved 23 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ↑ "Ireland V US in Templemore". Irish Independent. 12 March 1999. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- ↑ "Badminton". Belfast News-Letter. 6 April 1992. p. 20. Retrieved 23 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ↑ "Badminton". Belfast Telegraph. 9 February 1998. p. 23. Retrieved 23 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ↑ "Mark's first". Belfast Telegraph. 4 February 1994. p. 33. Retrieved 23 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ↑ "Who's going to the Games?". Ireland's Saturday Night. 4 June 1994. p. 16. Retrieved 23 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ↑ "The best ever, says McColgan". Belfast News-Letter. 14 June 1994. p. 39. Retrieved 23 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ↑ "Northern Ireland Victoria 1994". Commonwealth Games Federation. Archived from the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ↑ "Hot-shot Bobby misses party". Belfast News-Letter. 16 June 1998. p. 45. Retrieved 23 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ↑ "Northern Ireland Kuala Lumpur 1998". Commonwealth Games Federation. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- ↑ "Bruce topping the Irish rankings". Ireland's Saturday Night. 28 December 2002. p. 13. Retrieved 23 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ↑ "Graham faces top class Malaysians". Coleraine Times. 17 August 1994. p. 42. Retrieved 23 March 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ↑ "Ireland veteran Topping retires". BBC. 30 March 2006. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
- ↑ "Badminton Ireland National Champions Men's Singles 1912-Present". Eirball. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- ↑ "Badminton Ireland National Champions Men's Doubles 1912-Present". Eirball. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- ↑ "Irish Senior Nationals Winners". Badminton Ireland. Retrieved 23 March 2026.