Judy Devlin | |
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Personal information | |
Born |
Winnipeg, Manitoba |
22 October 1935
Judy Devlin (later Judy Hashman) (born 22 October 1935 in Winnipeg, Manitoba) is a former badminton player who won more major international titles than any other player of her era.
Devlin began playing badminton with her Irish-born father Frank Devlin when she was seven in the Baltimore, Maryland region of the U.S.A. where her family had settled. Under her father's tutelage she developed a badminton game notable for its power, accuracy, and consistency. After dominating U.S. junior competition she won her first (adult) U.S. championship event, women's doubles, with her sister Sue in 1953. This marked the beginning of the run of success listed below. She married Dick Hashman in 1960, living in England thereafter and eventually becoming a British citizen.
Competing before the establishment of an official world championships for individual players and before badminton's entry into the Olympic Games, Devlin won 86 national and international titles. Among these are 31 titles in the USA, 8 titles in Germany, 7 titles in Canada, 4 titles in the Netherlands, 4 titles in Sweden, 3 titles in Ireland, 3 titles in Jamaica, 2 titles in Scotland, and a combined 19 titles in All England Open and English National competition. She played on U.S. Uber Cup teams that won three successive world championships (1957, 1960, 1963). In 1972 she won 2 titles (team and women's doubles) at the European Badminton Championships.