Scott Evans represented Ireland in the men’s badminton singles at three Olympic Games – Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016 – becoming the first Irishman to compete in Olympic badminton and, at Rio, the first Irishman to win an Olympic badminton match.

From Dundrum in Dublin, Evans began playing badminton as a child at the Dublin badminton centre where his father ran a sports shop, taking to the court whenever he could while his father worked. He attended Wesley College before making the momentous decision aged 16 to move to Denmark – the European capital of badminton – to train at the International Badminton Academy.

He subsequently spent 11 years playing for Gentofte Badminton Club under coach Jim Laugesen, rising to a highest world ranking of 24. He won the Irish national singles title eight consecutive times between 2005 and 2012, equalling the record of James ‘Chick’ Doyle.

At Beijing 2008 he lost narrowly to Germany’s Marc Zwiebler in three close sets – a defeat he avenged eight years later at Rio. At London 2012 he was drawn against eventual champion Lin Dan of China in the first round and was eliminated.

At Rio 2016 he produced the finest performances of his Olympic career, beating Zwiebler in his opening match despite losing the first set 9-21, then beating host nation player Ygor Coelho de Oliveira to reach the round of 16 before losing to eventual champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark – finishing 9th overall, the best result in Irish Olympic badminton history.

He retired in 2018 and subsequently served as head coach at Gentofte before becoming assistant head coach at Solrød Badminton Club.