# Thomas Laybourn

Thomas Laybourn (born 30 September 1977) is a retired badminton player from Denmark. He is a World Champion, two times European Champion and was ranked as world number 1 in the mixed doubles in January 2011.

## Career

Laybourn won the 2006 European Badminton Championships in the mixed doubles with partner Kamilla Rytter Juhl. He also competed at the 2006 IBF World Championships in mixed doubles (with Juhl), and were defeated in the quarterfinals by Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms 14–21, 17–21.
Laybourn made his first appearance at the Olympic Games in 2008 Beijing in the mixed doubles event with Juhl. They defeated Singaporean pair Hendri Kurniawan Saputra and Li Yujia in the first round, but lost to Flandy Limpele and Vita Marissa of Indonesia in the quarter-finals with a close rubber games.
His biggest success was the title in the 2009 World Championships in the mixed doubles with partner Kamilla Rytter Juhl. It was the first Danish World Championships win since 2003 when Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen won the men's doubles competition.
In 2012, Laybourn played at the London Olympics, reaching in to the quarter-finals stage with Partner Juhl. The duo beat Valiyaveetil Diju and Jwala Gutta of India, Lee Yong-dae and Ha Jung-eun of South Korea, and defeated by Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir of Indonesia to stand as runners-up in Group C. They then lost to eventual gold medalists Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei of China in the quarter-finals in straight games. After the London Olympic, Laybourn retired from the international competitions.
Laybourn created a site named Badminton Famly to share knowledge, opinions, and tips about badminton. Badminton Famly also active on several platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook.

## Achievements
### BWF World Championships

Mixed doubles
| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 2009 | Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad, India | Kamilla Rytter Juhl | Nova Widianto Liliyana Natsir | 21–13, 21–17 | Gold |

### European Championships

Mixed doubles
| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 2006 | Maaspoort Sports and Events, Den Bosch, Netherlands | Kamilla Rytter Juhl | Jens Eriksen Mette Schjoldager | 22–20, 21–15 | Gold |
| 2010 | Manchester Evening News Arena, Manchester, England | Kamilla Rytter Juhl | Robert Mateusiak Nadieżda Kostiuczyk | 21–19, 18–21, 21–12 | Gold |
| 2012 | Telenor Arena, Karlskrona, Sweden | Kamilla Rytter Juhl | Mads Pieler Kolding Julie Houmann | 21–16, 19–21, 18–21 | Bronze |

### BWF Superseries

The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries levels are Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consists of twelve tournaments around the world that have been introduced since 2011. Successful players are invited to the Superseries Finals, which are held at the end of each year.
Mixed doubles
| Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 2007 | Korea Open | Kamilla Rytter Juhl | Zheng Bo Gao Ling | 20–22, 19–21 | Runner-up |
| 2008 | Indonesia Open | Kamilla Rytter Juhl | Zheng Bo Gao Ling | 14–21, 8–21 | Runner-up |
| 2008 | Denmark Open | Kamilla Rytter Juhl | Joachim Fischer Nielsen Christinna Pedersen | 14–21, 17–21 | Runner-up |
| 2008 | World Superseries Masters Finals | Kamilla Rytter Juhl | Nova Widianto Lilyana Natsir | 21–19, 18–21, 22–20 | Winner |
| 2010 | Malaysia Open | Kamilla Rytter Juhl | Tao Jiaming Zhang Yawen | 21–19, 18–21, 15–21 | Runner-up |
| 2010 | Singapore Open | Kamilla Rytter Juhl | Nova Widianto Lilyana Natsir | 21–12, 21–15 | Winner |
| 2010 | Denmark Open | Kamilla Rytter Juhl | Nathan Robertson Jenny Wallwork | 21–12, 12–21, 21–9 | Winner |
| 2012 | All England Open | Kamilla Rytter Juhl | Tontowi Ahmad Liliyana Natsir | 17–21, 19–21 | Runner-up |
    BWF Superseries Finals tournament
    BWF Superseries Premier tournament
    BWF Superseries tournament

### BWF Grand Prix

The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) which was held from 2007 to 2017. The World Badminton Grand Prix sanctioned by International Badminton Federation (IBF) from 1983 to 2006.
Men's doubles
| Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 2004 | Dutch Open | Peter Steffensen | Howard Bach Tony Gunawan | 8–15, 7–15 | Runner-up |
| 2006 | Singapore Open | Lars Paaske | Sigit Budiarto Flandy Limpele | 8–21, 16–21 | Runner-up |
Mixed doubles
| Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 2004 | Dutch Open | Kamilla Rytter Juhl | Peter Steffensen Lena Frier Kristiansen | 15–11, 15–7 | Winner |
| 2005 | All England Open | Kamilla Rytter Juhl | Nathan Robertson Gail Emms | 10–15, 12–15 | Runner-up |
| 2005 | Thailand Open | Kamilla Rytter Juhl | Lee Jae-jin Lee Hyo-jung | 12–15, 12–15 | Runner-up |
| 2005 | Denmark Open | Kamilla Rytter Juhl | Lars Paaske Helle Nielsen | 15–8, 15–9 | Winner |
| 2006 | Macau Open | Kamilla Rytter Juhl | Zhang Jun Gao Ling | 21–19, 22–20 | Winner |
| 2006 | Denmark Open | Kamilla Rytter Juhl | Anthony Clark Donna Kellogg | 21–14, 14–21, 20–22 | Runner-up |
| 2007 | Chinese Taipei Open | Kamilla Rytter Juhl | Flandy Limpele Vita Marissa | 18–21, 23–25 | Runner-up |
| 2011 | Bitburger Open | Kamilla Rytter Juhl | Chan Peng Soon Goh Liu Ying | 18–21, 21–14, 25–27 | Runner-up |
| 2012 | German Open | Kamilla Rytter Juhl | Lee Yong-dae Ha Jung-eun | 21–9, 21–16 | Winner |
    BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament
    BWF & IBF Grand Prix tournament

### IBF International

Men's doubles
| Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 2003 | Finnish International | Jesper Thomsen | Mikhail Kelj Victor Maljutin | 11–15, 12–15 | Runner-up |
Mixed doubles
| Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 2001 | Iceland International | Karina Sørensen | Aqueel Bhatti Emma Hendry | 7–2, 7–4, 7–1 | Winner |
| 2003 | Finnish International | Julie Houmann | Kasper Ødum Lene Mørk | 11–5, 11–8 | Winner |

## Record against selected opponents

Mixed doubles results with Kamilla Rytter Juhl against Superseries Final finalists, Worlds Semi-finalists, and Olympic quarterfinalists.
* He Hanbin & Yu Yang 0–1
* Tao Jiaming & Zhang Yawen 0–2
* Zhang Nan & Zhao Yunlei 1–0
* Zheng Bo & Ma Jin 1–3
* Zheng Bo & Gao Ling 0–4
* Zhang Jun & Gao Ling 1–0
* Xu Chen & Ma Jin 1–2
* Chen Hung-ling & Cheng Wen-hsing 0–1
* Jens Eriksen & Mette Schjoldager 2–0
* Joachim Fischer Nielsen & Christinna Pedersen 1–3
* Nathan Robertson & Gail Emms 3–4
* Anthony Clark & Donna Kellogg 1–1
* Nathan Robertson & Jenny Wallwork 4–1
* / Chris Adcock & Imogen Bankier 1–0
* Michael Fuchs & Birgit Michels 2–2
* Valiyaveetil Diju & Jwala Gutta 3–0
* Flandy Limpele & Vita Marissa 1–2
* / Hendra Setiawan & Anastasia Russkikh 1–0
* Nova Widianto & Liliyana Natsir 5–10
* Tontowi Ahmad & Liliyana Natsir 1–3
* Hendra Aprida Gunawan & Vita Marissa 2–1
* Ko Sung-hyun & Ha Jung-eun 1–2
* Lee Yong-dae & Lee Hyo-jung 1–4
* Koo Kien Keat & Wong Pei Tty 2–1
* Robert Mateusiak & Nadieżda Zięba 4–0
* Hendri Saputra & Li Yujia 4–0
* Sudket Prapakamol & Saralee Thungthongkam 4–1