At 70 years old, he's still hunting for his first win as a badminton pro - and loving every moment

SINGAPORE: The sun is just peeking through on a Friday morning when I speak to Raymond Webster.

It's also after midnight in the United Kingdom, where he lives, but Webster assures me his bedtime is late.

After all, this isn’t your average 70-year-old. 

The Englishman is an avid mountain climber and passionate about driving. When not doing either of those things, he competes in the professional badminton circuit against others more than half his age.

Since entering his first Badminton World Federation event in 2016, he's mostly hovered around the 800 mark in the men's rankings, and played close to 60 singles matches.

He has lost all of them. 

Webster's recent matches include a 3-21, 8-21 defeat to 23-year-old Bruneian Kan Kah Kit in November; and a lopsided 3-21, 1-21 loss to 29-year-old compatriot Ngan Heng Lin in September.

Webster loved every minute of these contests.

To understand what drives him in his badminton exploits, one has to wind the clock back about five decades.

Webster’s foray into the sport began in his 20s, when he joined coaching sessions by top English player Ray Stevens.

“Ray has a magnetic personality and fire for the sport that would set anyone's ambitions alight,” Webster told CNA.

Though he was regularly "pummelled" by Stevens, badminton started to appeal to him for its "pure dynamics and the way the game flowed from surges of all-out intensity to moments of fine control”.

It was during one of these sessions when "the lights came on" and Webster thought he could excel at the sport.

"With a score of 11-15, it was the closest that I'd ever come to beating a champion," recalled the Englishman.

"After the session, Ray asked me: 'How did you play like that?' Responding, I (said I) don't know. But years later I found