| Heather Ward (married name Heather Nielsen) | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Country | England |
| Born | October 1938 (age 85) [1] Surrey |
Medal record | |
Heather Maureen Ward (later Heather Nielsen; born October 1938) is a former English badminton player who won international championships and competed at an elite level during a two decade span from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s.
Noted for her grace and athleticism, she won women's doubles with American Margaret Varner at the 1958 All England Badminton Championships (then the world's most prestigious tournament for individual competitors). [2] The following year Ward interrupted the reign of the great Judy Devlin (Hashman) by defeating her in the 1959 All England Badminton Championships women's singles final. [3] During the 1960s 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 1970 All England Badminton Championships to reach the final of women's singles before bowing to Japan's Etsuko Takenaka. [4] Continuing to compete, she was an All-England singles quarter-finalist as late as 1975. [5]
She married Egon Nielsen and they had four children Bjorn, Gorm, Belinda and Anders Nielsen. [6]
Erland Kops was a badminton player from Denmark who won numerous major international singles and doubles titles from the late 1950s to the early 1970s.
Knud Aage Nielsen is a retired male badminton player from Denmark.
Hiroe Yuki was a Japanese badminton player. She won numerous major international titles from the late 1960s to the late 1970s.
Ippei Kojima is a former Japanese badminton player who won a record eight Japanese national men's singles titles and some major international titles in both singles and doubles between the mid-1960s and the mid-1970s.
Noriko Nakayama is a Japanese former badminton player, the first true international badminton star from that nation, who won numerous Japanese national and major international titles from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s.
Eva Twedberg is a former Swedish badminton player who won women's singles at numerous international championships. Noted for her stamina and swift court coverage, her peak years were the late 1960s and the early 1970s. Among other titles, she won the World Invitational Championships held in Glasgow, in 1971 in both singles and doubles, the prestigious All-England singles title in 1968 and 1971; the Danish Open in 1968, 1970, and 1972; the U.S. Open in 1972 and 1973; and the European Championships in 1970. Mrs. Stuart is the most successful player in the history of the Swedish National Badminton Championships with a combined total of 44 titles in national restricted and national open competition earned between 1960 and 1976. During the latter part of her badminton career she married the Northumberland county and England badminton internationalist Elliot Stuart and represented Northumberland.
Margaret Beck was a badminton player from England who ranked among the world's best during most of the 1970s.
John David Eddy is a retired badminton player from England who won national and international titles from the late 1960s to the early 1980s.
Elo Hansen is a retired male badminton player from Denmark who won international titles in all three events from the late 1960s through the mid-1970s.
Per Walsøe is a Danish former Supreme Court judge and a retired male badminton player who won a number of Danish national and international doubles titles from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s.
Margaret Boxall is a retired badminton player from England.
Muljadi was a world class badminton player who represented Indonesia between 1963 and 1973.
Henning Borch is a former world class badminton player from Denmark who won major tournaments from the early 1960s to the early 1970s. In the 1964 Borch reached the men's singles final at the prestigious All-England Championships, narrowly losing to fellow countryman Knud Aage Nielsen. His most impressive achievement was sharing three consecutive All-England men's doubles titles with Erland Kops from 1967 to 1969. Borch took part in five consecutive Thomas Cup campaigns for Denmark between 1960 and 1973.
Minarni was an Indonesian badminton player who won major titles around the world and who represented her country internationally between 1959 and 1975. In 1968, Minarni became the first Indonesian to reach the final of women's singles at the All England Open, and with Retno Kustijah formed the first of only two Indonesian women's doubles teams yet to capture the All England Open title. She also won titles at the Indonesian National Championships, the quadrennial Asian Games, the Asian Championships, and at the Malaysia, U.S., Canada, Singapore, and New Zealand Opens. Minarni first played in the then triennial Uber Cup competition for Indonesia in her mid teens (1959). In her last Uber Cup campaign (1974-1975) her excellent doubles play helped Indonesia to win its first women's world team title.
Tyna Barinaga is a former American badminton player who won national and international titles from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s. In 1964 Barinaga and fellow Port Angeles, Washington resident Caroline Jensen (Hein) became the first all-teenage team to capture the women's doubles title at the U.S. Open Championships. They won the Canadian Open women's doubles the following year. Barinaga shared the mixed doubles title at U.S. Open in 1966, and won both singles and doubles at the same tournament in 1968. Her last full season of competition, 1969–1970, was probably her best. After claiming a number of titles in Great Britain, she won all three events at the U.S Championships and women's singles at the Canadian Open. Barinaga was a member of three U.S. Uber Cup teams, the first of which retained the women's world team championship. She was inducted into the U.S. Badminton Hall of Fame in 2003.
Susan Devlin Peard is an American-Irish former badminton player who represented both the US and Ireland in international competition. She is the daughter of J. Frank Devlin, an Irish badminton great, who moved his family to the United States in the late 1930s. She is the older sister of Judy Devlin Hashman, with whom she won numerous international women's doubles championships, including six titles at the prestigious All-England Championships.
Thelma Kingsbury (1911–1979), was an English-born, naturalised American sportswoman who won major badminton titles in the British Isles and then in the US from the early 1930s to the early 1950s.
Retno Kustijah is a former badminton player from Indonesia who competed internationally from the early 1960s to the early 1970s.
Dorothy "Dottie" O'Neil is a retired American badminton player.
Darmadi is an Indonesian badminton player from the 60s to 70s.
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