Heather Ward

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Heather Ward (later Heather Ward Nielsen; born 1939) is a former English badminton player who won international championships and competed at an elite level during a two decade span from the mid 1950's to the mid 1970's. Noted for her grace and athleticism, she won women's doubles at the 1958 All-England Championships (then the world's most prestigious tournament) in her teens[1]. The following year she interrupted the reign of the great Judy Devlin (Hashman) by winning the All-England women's singles[2]. During the 1960's her badminton career was hampered by a variety of factors including athletic injury, marriage and motherhood, and residence in South Africa. In 1970, however, she returned to the All-England's to reach the final of women's singles before bowing to Japan's Etsuko Takenaka[3]. Continuing to compete, she was an All-England singles quarter-finalist as late as 1975[4].

[edit] References

  1. ^ Herbert Scheele ed., The International Badminton Federation Handbook for 1971 (Canterbury, Kent, England: J. A. Jennings Ltd., 1971) 166.
  2. ^ Scheele, 163.
  3. ^ Scheele, 164.
  4. ^ Pat Davis, The Guinness Book of Badminton (Enfield, Middlesex, England: Guinness Superlatives Ltd., 1983) 162.
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