Heather Ward

Heather Ward (later Heather Ward Nielsen; born 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 Championships (then the world's most prestigious tournament for individual competitors). The following year Ward interrupted the reign of the great Judy Devlin (Hashman) by defeating her in the All-England women's singles final. 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 All-Englands to reach the final of women's singles before bowing to Japan's Etsuko Takenaka. Continuing to compete, she was an All-England singles quarter-finalist as late as 1975.