Robin Denton (née Glenie), born in Auckland in 1950, competed in badminton at three Commonwealth Games from 1970-82, and won the bronze medal in the mixed doubles with Steve Wilson in 1982. She was always a pleasure to watch – a left-hander who used her height well, had a lot of natural ability and played with great flair.

Denton, one of five children, was educated at St Cuthbert’s College. Her interest in badminton was furthered by the successes of her older sister, Alison, who attended four Commonwealth Games. Robin had a good junior career, winning six national junior titles and the 1968 Australian junior title and was only 19 when she won her first New Zealand singles title.

She became a kindergarten teacher and then moved into the family business, Gardner Fashions, which had 21 stories throughout the North Island. She married international badminton umpire Robert Denton, a teacher.

Her first Commonwealth Games was in Edinburgh in 1970.

Competing as Robin Glenie, she lost her opening singles to Australian Judy Nyirati 11-3, 11-1. In the doubles she teamed with Alison, but they were unable to make any headway, losing their first match to Malaysians Sylvia Tan and Sylvia Ng 15-9, 15-8.

Glenie and John Compton had slightly better fortunes in the mixed doubles, winning their first match against Jamaicans Geoffrey and Jennifer Haddad 15-6, 15-2, before going down to Paul Whetnall and Julie Rickard of England 15-3, 17-18, 15-6.

In 1974, Robin Denton, as she now by then, again lost her opening match, to Susan Whetnall, 10-12, 11-1, 11-6. The sisters won a round of doubles this time, beating Australians Kay Terry and Joan Jones 15-8, 15-6. However, they were unable to dent the Scottish team of Robert McCoig and Joanna Flockhart and lost 15-11, 15-5.

In the mixed doubles, Denton partnered Bryan Purser and they had an impressive first round win over Malaysians Sylvia Ng and Rosalind Ang 15-5, 17-14. That was the end of their run – England’s Elliot Stuart and Whetnall outplayed them 15-2, 15-13 in the second round.

Denton spent 1975 in England on a working holiday with her husband, Rob.

She missed the 1978 Commonwealth Games, but was back for Brisbane in 1982, and emerged with a bronze medal in the mixed doubles, partnering Steve Wilson. It was only New Zealand’s second Commonwealth Games badminton medal.

In the first round of the mixed doubles, the New Zealanders were pushed right to the limit to beat the Hong Kong combination of Tin Cheung Chan and Wong Har Ping 18-16, 18-16. They followed this up with an easier victory over Northern Ireland’s Diane Underwood and Cliff McIlwaine 15-4, 15-6 and were similarly untroubled to beat the Indians Vikam and Kanwal Thakar Singh 15-6, 15-2 to move into the quarter-finals.

There they won an entertaining match against the Canadian duo of Paul Johnson and Claire Backhouse 15-9, 13-18, 15-6.

England’s Martin Drew and Karen Chapman beat them 15-11, 15-10 in the semi-finals, which left them facing a bronze medal play-off against Australians Trevor James and Jennifer Cunningham. Home town support meant nothing as the New Zealanders swept to a 15-5, 15-1 victory to secure the bronze medal.

Denton didn’t have the same success elsewhere in Brisbane. In the singles, she went down in the first round to Diane Underwood of Northern Ireland 11-7, 11-4. In the doubles, Denton and Toni Whittaker had a win over Underwood and Ann Crossan of Northern Ireland 9-15, 15-5, 15-6, but were no match for England’s Karen Chapman and Sally Podger in the quarter-finals, losing 15-1, 15-5.

In the teams event, Denton was a part of the New Zealand team that finished fourth, losing to Malaysia in the play-off for the bronze medal.

The New Zealanders lost first up to Canada 4-1 with Denton losing her singles, and with Toni Whittaker, her doubles.

In the 4-1 win over Malaysia, Denton and Whittaker had a 2-0 victory over Katherine Swee Phek Teh and Leong Chai Lean. New Zealand were then untroubled to beat the Island of Man 5-0, Denton winning her singles and mixed doubles with Wilson for the total loss of only seven points. Zimbabwe offered, if anything, even fewer problems. Denton and Allison Sinton lost only four points to Ann Folcarelli and Marie Green.

It was a similar story against Hong Kong, though Denton and Whittaker had to work a little harder for their doubles 15-6, 15-8 win over Tin Cheung Chan and Wong Har Ping.

Into the business end of the tournament, New Zealand were thumped 5-0 by England in the semi-finals. Denton lost the singles to 17-year-old Helen Troke 11-2, 11-4. Troke went on to win the singles gold medal in 1982 and 1986.

In the bronze medal play-off, Australia edged out New Zealand 3-2. Whittaker and Denton were disappointed to lose a close doubles tussle against Julie McDonald and Audrey Swaby 16-8, 15-7, 15-12.

Denton compiled a fine record in the New Zealand champs, winning six singles between 1969-82, six doubles with her sister, from 1970-76, and four mixed doubles, two with Bryan Purser, a total of 16 titles. She won the triple crown of titles in 1972 and 1974.

She was in the news many years after winning her medal in Brisbane. In 2006, the Auckland house belonging to Robert and Robin Denton was burgled and various prized Olympic and Commonwealth Game commemorative medals were taken, along with other memorabilia and jewellery, cameras and a computer. Gradually some of the property was recovered over a period of about three years. Fortunately the bronze medal from Brisbane was in a cabinet and was not taken.

Along with her sister Alison, Robin was a stalwart of New Zealand Uber Cup and Whyte Trophy teams. The Glenie sisters, as they were often called, were honoured with the Exceptional Performance Award for their outstanding achievements by Badminton New Zealand in 2023.

Her brothers, John and Richard sailed for New Zealand in cherub events.

Robin Denton

Biography

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