Heather Ward

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 [Herbert Scheele ed., The "International Badminton Federation Handbook for 1971" (Canterbury, Kent, England: J. A. Jennings Ltd., 1971) 166.] . The following year she interrupted the reign of the great Judy Devlin (Hashman) by winning the All-England women's singles [Scheele, 163.] . 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 [Scheele, 164.] . Continuing to compete, she was an All-England singles quarter-finalist as late as 1975 [Pat Davis, The "Guinness Book of Badminton" (Enfield, Middlesex, England: Guinness Superlatives Ltd., 1983) 162.] .

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