Henry O. Paynter, 98; Oldest Competitive Badminton Player
Henry O. Paynter , 98, who is listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest competitive badminton player, has died in Westbank, British Columbia, after a stroke three weeks ago, Canadian officials announced Tuesday.
An orchardist, farmer and beekeeper, Paynter was born in Newcastle, England, but moved to Canada with his family when he was 2. He attended Herbert Business College and served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II.
Paynter discovered badminton when he was 19, and two years later organized a car raffle to raise money for a two-court fieldhouse.
He taught his four sons and two daughters to play the game, and at 95 was still competing -- with his 50-year-old son Henry A. Paynter as a partner -- in the Canadian open masters badminton championships.
Two years ago, at 96, Paynter earned the Guinness listing as the world’s oldest competitive badminton player. That year the still-agile Paynter planted, watered and weeded a corn patch and picked 1,900 ears of corn himself.
Paynter attributed his longevity to genetics, working in his fields and, possibly tongue in cheek, to bee stings.
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