Langbahn Team – Weltmeisterschaft

Alex Vlaar

Alex Vlaar
Personal information
Birth nameAlex Christiaan Vlaar
CountryNetherlands
Born (1996-07-31) 31 July 1996 (age 28)
Lelystad, Flevoland, Netherlands
Men's singles & doubles
Highest ranking197 (MS 12 July 2018)
70 (MD 13 August 2019)
56 (XD 1 October 2019)
BWF profile

Alex Christiaan Vlaar (Bulgarian: Алекс Флаар; born 31 July 1996) is a Dutch-Bulgarian badminton player.[1] He was born in Lelystad, the Netherlands.[2] His father Chris Vlaar is a Dutch rally car driver and badminton coach, his mother is former badminton player Emilia Dimitrova who is also a coach. She played for Bulgaria at the 1992 Olympics women's doubles.[3]

Career

Born in the Netherlands, Vlaar is a former young Dutch badminton player who first played for the Netherlands team. He participated for the Netherlands at the 2014 BWF World Junior Championships,[4] 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China,[5] and the 2015 European Junior Championships in Lubin, Poland.[6] Overall top 10 BWF junior ranking in all, he won several European Ranked Junior tournaments as well in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. In the Netherlands he won several national junior and open titles.[7] He plays team competition at the highest premier Dutch club level (Eredivisie), first for BV Almere and now already a few years with Velo badminton from Wateringen with whom he became Dutch team champion in 2016 & 2017.

Vlaar has a double Nationality (Dutch and Bulgarian) and he decided to played on a Bulgarian license to develop his badminton on the highest professional international level.[2] Already in 2016 he became Bulgarian National senior champion in men's doubles with partner Philip Shishov and mixed doubles with partner Petya Nedelcheva. In 2017, he and Shishov successfully defended the National men's doubles title. Alex was selected for the National team of Bulgaria and together with Bulgarian mixed doubles partner Mariya Mitsova he already was runner-up at the 2016 Croatian International, and won the 2018 Bulgarian Open and the 2018 Bulgarian International.

Achievements

BWF International Challenge/Series (5 titles, 4 runners-up)

Men's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2016 Bulgaria International Bulgaria Philip Shishov Thailand Pakin Kuna-Anuvit
Thailand Natthapat Trinkajee
19–21, 19–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2018 Bulgarian International Bulgaria Ivan Rusev Czech Republic Jaromír Janáček
Czech Republic Tomáš Švejda
19–21, 14–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2022 Spanish International Netherlands Noah Haase Spain Joan Monroy
Spain Carlos Piris
21–18, 21–17 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner

Mixed doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2016 Croatian International Bulgaria Mariya Mitsova Croatia Zvonimir Durkinjak
Croatia Mateja Čiča
18–21, 11–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2017 Bulgarian Open Netherlands Iris Tabeling Denmark Mathias Thyrri
Denmark Emilie Aalestrup
23–21, 21–15 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2018 Bulgarian Open Bulgaria Mariya Mitsova Finland Anton Kaisti
Finland Inalotta Suutarinen
21–17, 17–21, 21–16 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2018 Bulgarian International Bulgaria Mariya Mitsova India Ashith Surya
India Pranjal Prabhu Chimulkar
21–15, 21–10 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2019 Portugal International Bulgaria Mariya Mitsova Chinese Taipei Chang Ko-chi
Chinese Taipei Lee Chih-chen
12–21, 14–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2019 Hellas International Bulgaria Mariya Mitsova Poland Miłosz Bochat
Poland Magdalena Świerczyńska
10–21, 23–21, 21–17 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
  BWF International Challenge tournament
  BWF International Series tournament
  BWF Future Series tournament

References

  1. ^ "Players: Alex Vlaar". bwfbadminton.com. Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Alex Vlaar: My second home". www.badmintoneurope.com. Badminton Europe. 24 April 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  3. ^ "Две титли за България на бадминтон". tennis24.bg (in Bulgarian). 17 August 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  4. ^ "Bondscoach Massing maakt WJK-selectie bekend". www.bvalmere.nl (in Dutch). 18 February 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  5. ^ Kneefel, Robbie. "Verslag eerste dag Jeugd Olympische Spelen". www.top-badminton.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  6. ^ "Nederlands Jeugdteam zoals verwacht naar kwartfinale op EJK U19". www.top-badminton.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  7. ^ "Alex Vlaar". Archived from the original on 2018-12-08. Retrieved 2018-12-08.