Oscar Brandon
Oscar Roël Brandon (born 8 August 1971) is a Surinamese badminton player, coach and Olympic team manager. He competed for Suriname at the 1996 Summer Olympics as a badminton player in the Men's singles event. And he was "chef de mission" (team manager) for Suriname at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Early years. At the age of six Oscar Brandon accompanied his dad to the badminton "Ismay van Wilgen sportshall" and when he turned 12 years old became a member of the SCVU (Sociaal Culturele Vereniging Uitvlugt ) badminton club at the outskirts of the city of Paramaribo. There he nurtured his talent under guidance and supervision of trainer and coach "Ma Lefi". He quickly became a junior champ and was then soon included in the National Juniors Squad of Suriname for centralized training. Career. His first big international success came in 1988 as a junior player winning the Carebaco juniors event in boys singles. In 1990 he reached the semi-finals in Men's Singles at the 1990 CACSO Games in Mexico City. Unfortunately he lost the semi-final against experienced home player Ernesto de La Torre  and then he lost the bronze medal match against Jamaican Robert Richards. After a short period of training and playing tournaments in the Netherlands, he decided to play a full year of badminton competition abroad in the Netherlands. There he was part of the famous BV van Zijderveld club in Amstelveen. He won a record of ten National Men's Singles titles, the first in 1991 and then was undisputed from 1993 till 2001. In 1996 he received a wildcard to participate at the 1996 Summer Olympics a first in badminton for Suriname. At the Atlanta Olympics he would also  become the first Olympic torch bearer for his country, participating in the Olympic Torch Relay in Miami. In the Men's Singles event at the 1996 Summer Olympics he lost his first match against Jamie Dawson of Canada 5-15, 4-15. In 1998 he became "Sportsman of the Year" in Suriname after reaching the 62nd place on the badminton world ranking, by winning the first edition of the Suriname International and reaching the final of the Argentina International. That year 1998 he also won both the Argentina International and Brazil International São Paulo Cup 1998 in the mixed doubles  event with Adrienn Kocsis a former Hungarian player playing for Peru. In 1999 Oscar Brandon participated in both the Pan Am Games and the World Championships, a first for his country Suriname. Once again in 1999 he was chosen to be "Sportsman of the Year" in Suriname. In 2001 he was crowned "Badminton player of the century" in his native Suriname. Achievements with results. BWF International Challenge/Series. "Men's singles" "Men's doubles" "Mixed doubles" Post-playing career. After his active career Oscar Brandon became a badminton coach, team manager and politician for his country. In November 1998 he  was chosen as a member of the National Assembly, the Parliament, representing the legislative branch of government in Suriname. He is also a member of the Suriname Olympic Committee and took up the "chef de mission" (team manager) role for Suriname at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games, the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, the 2010 South American Games, the 2012 Summer Olympics, the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games, the 2014 South American Games, the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics, the 2015 Pan American Games and the 2016 Summer Olympics. Personal life. Oscar Brandon is married and the couple have  a son Shawn, who occasionally also participated in the National Badminton Circuit of Suriname and was also selected as a junior international to participate in the Carebaco Games.