Richard Vaughan (born 16 April 1978) is a former international badminton player from Wales who is a two-time Olympian, won bronze medals at Commonwealth Games and European Championships and is a twelve-times champion of Wales. From 2015 to 2021 he was the CEO for Squash Australia, and since 2023 the Vice-President and then Chief Operating Officer for the Badminton World Federation (BWF).

Biography Vaughan from Llanbradach, Caerphilly, represented the Welsh team at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he competed in the singles and team events.

He won a bronze medal at the 2000 European Badminton Championships, losing to Peter Gade of Denmark in the semi-final. In 2000 he made his Olympic debut at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. During the men's singles he beat world No5 Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand in the first round and Swedish No1 Rasmus Wengberg in the 2nd round, before losing to World No1 and World Champion Sun Jun of China, 13–15 13–15. He beat the World No1 Roslin Hashim of Malaysia at the 2001 Danish Open.

Vaughan represented the Welsh team again at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, winninga bronze medal. He beat world No3 Ronald Susilo of Singapore and Abhinn Shyam Gupta of India on the way to the semi-final, where he lost to Lee Tsuen Seng of Malaysia. That same year he reached his highest world ranking of number 7. In 2004 Vaughan beat the World Champion Xia Xuanze of China at the All England Super Series and attended his second Olympic Games at the 2004 Summer Olympics despite contracting a virus similar to glandular fever, which seriously impaired his preparation for the Athens Olympics. In men's singles, he defeated Marco Vasconcelos of Portugal in the first round. In the round of 16, Vaughan was defeated by Shon Seung-Mo of Korea, the eventual silver medalist.

Vaughan went to his third Commonwealth Games in 2006 and earned 86 Welsh international caps. He was the xseven-time singles champion of Wales at the Welsh National Badminton Championships.

Towards the end of his paying career in 2005 he established the Richard Vaughan Badminton Academy, based in the United Kingdom, helping establish many British and European players. In 2008, Vaughan was a member of Team Darfur, a sporting pressure group in the lead up to the 2008 Olympic Games. He worked as a Director in IT sector before becoming the Chief Executive (CEO) of Badminton Ireland between 2011 and 2015. In 2014 Vaughan joined the board of Badminton Europe and chaired the High-Performance Commission, which has oversaw the development of a European Training Centre in Denmark.

From 2015 to 2020 Vaughan was the CEO of Squash Australia, guiding Australia at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast. In 2019, Vaughan established the 'Friends of Squash' Parliament competition with the current Sports Minister Anika Wells and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. and in late 2020 joined the board at Equestrian Australia as a Non-Executive Director, Chairing the Finance Committee.

Achievements Commonwealth Games Men's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 2002 Bolton Arena, Manchester, England Lee Tsuen Seng Bronze

European Championships Men's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result2000Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, Scotland Peter Gade3–15, 4–15 Bronze

European Junior Championships Boys' singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result1997Nymburk, Czech Republic Dicky Palyama15–11, 11–15, 15–18 Silver

World Grand Prix The World Badminton Grand Prix sanctioned by International Badminton Federation (IBF) since 1983.

Men's singles YearTournamentOpponentScoreResult2000Polish Open Vladislav Druzchenko12–15, 12–15 Runner-up1999Polish Open Rio Suryana9–15, 15–6, 12–15 Runner-up

Best Grand Prix results Last 16 All England 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007 1/4 Final Danish Grand Prix 2001 1/4 Final Swiss Grand Prix 2002 1/4 Final German Grand Prix 2002 Semi Final Dutch Grand Prix 2000 Semi Final US Grand Prix 2007 Final Polish Grand Prix 2000 Final Polish Grand Prix 2001

BWF International Challenge/Series Men's singles YearTournamentOpponentScoreResult2006Canadian International Runner-up2006Waikato International John Moody21–11, 16–21, 20–22 Runner-up2006Victorian International Nikhil Kanetkar22–20, 21–13 Winner2006Estonian International Runner-up2006Mauritius International Klaus Raffeiner21–11, 21–18 Winner2006Kenya International Edwin Ekiring21–16, 21–17 Winner2006South Africa International Winner2003Peru International Tjitte Weistra15–4, 15–8 Winner2003Giraldilla International Sho Sasaki15–11, 6–15, 12–15 Runner-up2003Guatemala International Hidetaka Yamada11–15, 15–10, 15–8 Winner2002South Africa International Stewart Carson7–1, 7–0, 7–0 Winner2002Spanish International Dicky Palyama4–7, 1–7, 7–5 Runner-up2001Bulgarian International Andrew South7–2, 5–7, 7–2 Winner2000Cuba International Jyri Aalto15–8, 15–6 Winner2000Canadian International Jyri Aalto12–15, 15–7, 9–15 Runner-up2000Welsh International Andrew South1–7, 7–2, 7–5 Winner2000Dutch International Vladislav Druzchenko15–10, 6–15, 11–15 Runner-up2000Croatian International Jyri Aalto15–10, 15–13 Winner1999Welsh International Rasmus Wengberg17–16, 17–14 Winner1999Le Volant d'Or de Toulouse Pullela Gopichand13–15, 15–14, 6–15 Runner-up1999Slovenian International Kasper Ødum15–4, 11–15, 15–9 Winner1999Chile International Bobby Milroy15–9, 15–5 Winner1999Peru International Ardy Wiranata15–7, 2–15, 9–15 Runner-up1998Argentina International Winner1998Brazil International Jim Ronny Andersen15–6, 15–8 Winner1998Spanish International Gerben Bruijstens15–5, 15–1 Winner

Mixed doubles YearTournamentPartnerOpponentScoreResult2009Cyprus International Sarah Thomas Henry Tam Donna Haliday18–21, 14–21 Runner-up2009Banuinvest International Sarah Thomas Valeriy Atrashchenkov Elena Prus19–21, 12–21 Runner-up BWF International Challenge tournament BWF International Series tournament

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