Judy Devlin

Judy Devlin (later Hashman, 22 October 1935 – 6 May 2024) was an English and American badminton player who won more major international titles than any other player of her era.

Judy Devlin
Personal information
Country	United States England
Born	(1935-10-22)22 October 1935 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Died	6 May 2024(2024-05-06) (aged 88) Oxford, England
Medal record Women's badminton Representing  United States Uber Cup 1957 Lancashire Women's team 1960 Philadelphia Women's team 1963 Wilmington Women's team 1966 Wellington Women's team Representing  England European Championships 1972 Karlskrona Women's doubles 1972 Karlskrona Mixed team

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 older sister Susan Devlin 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 10 years later.^[1]

Career

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. She retired in 1973.

From 1954 to 1967 Devlin dominated the women's singles event at the U.S. Open, winning 12 titles in 14 years, including 8 consecutive championships from 1956 to 1963.

Judy Devlin is the most successful female player ever in the All England Badminton Championships, with 17 titles, 10 of them in women's singles and 7 in women's doubles.

Devlin appeared as a castaway on the BBC Radio programme Desert Island Discs on 21 March 1970,^[2] and was inducted into the Badminton Hall of Fame in 1997, together with her father. She was also inducted into the U. S. Badminton Hall of Fame and the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame.

Death

Devlin died from cancer in Oxford on 6 May 2024, at the age of 88.^[3][4][5]

Achievements

European Championships

Women's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1972	Karlskrona Idrottshall, Karlskrona, Sweden	Gillian Gilks	Margaret Beck Julie Rickard	15–11, 15–7	Gold

International tournaments (78 titles, 14 runners-up)

Women's singles

Year	Tournament	Opponent	Score	Result
1954	All England Open	Iris Cooley	11–7, 11–5	Winner
1954	U.S. Open	Margaret Varner Bloss	8–11, 11–6, 11–6	Winner
1955	All England Open	Margaret Varner Bloss	12–9, 5–11, 1–11	Runner-up
1955	U.S. Open	Margaret Varner Bloss	11–6, 9–12, 9–12	Runner-up
1956	All England Open	Margaret Varner Bloss	8–11, 5–11	Runner-up
1956	U.S. Open	Margaret Varner Bloss	12–10, 11–6	Winner
1957	All England Open	Margaret Varner Bloss	11–2, 11–7	Winner
1957	Canada Open	Lois Alston	11–2, 11–3	Winner
1957	U.S. Open	Margaret Varner Bloss	11–2, 11–0	Winner
1957	Jamaica Open	Susan Devlin	11–4, 11–1	Winner
1958	All England Open	Margaret Varner Bloss	11–7, 12–10	Winner
1958	U.S. Open	Dorothy O'Neil	11–2, 11–2	Winner
1959	All England Open	Heather Ward	7–11, 11–3, 4–11	Runner-up
1959	Canada Open	Susan Devlin	11–1, 12–10	Winner
1959	U.S. Open	Dorothy O'Neil	11–0, 11–1	Winner
1960	All England Open	Margaret Varner Bloss	11–1, 11–9	Winner
1960	U.S. Open	Margaret Varner Bloss	6–11, 11–7, 11–7	Winner
1961	German Open	Sonia Cox	11–1, 11–3	Winner
1961	All England Open	Ursula Smith	11–2, 11–6	Winner
1961	Scottish Open	Wilma Tyre	11–2, 11–0	Winner
1961	U.S. Open	H. McGregor Stewart	11–2, 11–3	Winner
1962	German Open	Tonny Holst-Christensen	11–2, 11–3	Winner
1962	All England Open	Ursula Smith	11–4, 11–0	Winner
1962	U.S. Open	H. McGregor Stewart	11–9, 11–2	Winner
1963	German Open	Ulla Rasmussen	12–10, 12–9	Winner
1963	All England Open	Angela Bairstow	11–5, 11–9	Winner
1963	U.S. Open	Ursula Smith	11–6, 11–3	Winner
1964	Swedish Open	Ulla Rasmussen	12–10, 11–3	Winner
1964	Dutch Open	Angela Bairstow	11–2, 11–2	Winner
1964	German Open	Ulla Rasmussen	11–2, 11–3	Winner
1964	All England Open	Ursula Smith	11–0, 11–3	Winner
1964	Irish Open	Mary O'Sullivan	11–5, 11–1	Winner
1965	U.S. Open	Dorothy O'Neil	11–3, 11–0	Winner
1966	Swedish Open	Eva Twedberg	11–0, 11–0	Winner
1966	All England Open	Imre Rietveld	11–6, 11–7	Winner
1966	Canada Open	Ulla Strand	11–7, 11–7	Winner
1966	U.S. Open	Sharon Whittaker	11–6, 11–0	Winner
1967	All England Open	Noriko Takagi	5–11, 11–8, 12–10	Winner
1967	U.S. Open	Sharon Whittaker	11–3, 11–5	Winner

Women's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1954	All England Open	Susan Devlin	Iris Rogers June White	15–7, 12–15, 15–8	Winner
1954	U.S. Open	Susan Devlin	Ethel Marshall Bea Massman	10–15, 15–10, 15–13	Winner
1955	All England Open	Susan Devlin	Iris Rogers June White	15–18, 15–10, 9–15	Runner-up
1955	U.S. Open	Susan Devlin	Janet Wright Thelma Welcome	15–10, 15–9	Winner
1956	All England Open	Susan Devlin	Iris Rogers June White	17–18, 15–12, 15–12	Winner
1956	U.S. Open	Susan Devlin	Ethel Marshall Bea Massman	15–10, 7–15, 9–15	Runner-up
1957	Canada Open	Susan Devlin	Ethel Marshall Bea Massman	15–5, 10–15, 15–3	Winner
1957	U.S. Open	Susan Devlin	Dorothy O'Neil Margaret Varner Bloss	7–15, 15–7, 15–5	Winner
1957	Jamaica Open	Murray White	Susan Devlin Hope Valentine	15–4, 15–7	Winner
1958	U.S. Open	Susan Devlin	Ethel Marshall Bea Massman	15–10, 15–7	Winner
1959	All England Open	Susan Devlin	Iris Rogers June White	15–11, 10–15, 11–15	Runner-up
1959	Canada Open	Susan Devlin	Joan Hennessy Marjory Shedd	15–3, 15–1	Winner
1959	U.S. Open	Susan Devlin	Ethel Marshall Bea Massman	15–8, 15–8	Winner
1960	All England Open	Susan Devlin	Inge Birgit Hansen Kirsten Thorndahl	15–13, 15–6	Winner
1960	U.S. Open	Sue Peard	Dorothy O'Neil Margaret Varner Bloss	15–13, 15–4	Winner
1961	German Open	Sonia Cox	Irmgard Latz Hannelore Schmidt	15–5, 15–6	Winner
1961	All England Open	Sue Peard	Catherine Dunglison Wilma Tyre	15–5, 15–4	Winner
1961	Scottish Open	Sue Peard	Yvonne Kelly Mary O'Sullivan	15–9, 15–3	Winner
1961	U.S. Open	Sue Peard	Lois Alston Helen Tibbetts	15–11, 15–3	Winner
1962	German Open	Tonny Holst-Christensen	Karin Jørgensen Ulla Rasmussen	15–12, 15–9	Winner
1962	All England Open	Tonny Holst-Christensen	Karin Jørgensen Ulla Rasmussen	15–5, 15–3	Winner
1962	U.S. Open	Patricia Stephens	Ethel Marshall Bea Massman	15–10, 15–2	Winner
1963	German Open	Sue Peard	Karin Jørgensen Ulla Rasmussen	8–15, 10–15	Runner-up
1963	All England Open	Sue Peard	Karin Jørgensen Ulla Rasmussen	15–6, 15–9	Winner
1963	U.S. Open	Sue Peard	Margaret Barrand Ursula Smith	15–6, 15–7	Winner
1964	Swedish Open	Mary O'Sullivan	Karin Jørgensen Ulla Rasmussen	15–7, 15–3	Winner
1964	Dutch Open	Sue Peard	Angela Bairstow Jenny Pritchard	15–8, 15–11	Winner
1964	All England Open	Sue Peard	Karin Jørgensen Ulla Rasmussen	11–15, 15–6, 10–15	Runner-up
1964	Irish Open	Sue Peard	Lena McAleese Mary O'Sullivan	15–8, 15–7	Winner
1965	U.S. Open	Sue Peard	Margaret Barrand Jenny Pritchard	7–15, 13–15, 11–15	Runner-up
1966	Swedish Open	Eva Twedberg	Karin Jørgensen Ulla Strand	12–15, 15–10, 15–8	Winner
1966	German Open	Sue Peard	Karin Jørgensen Ulla Strand	15–7, 15–3	Winner
1966	All England Open	Sue Peard	Karin Jørgensen Ulla Strand	15–5, 14–17, 15–12	Winner
1966	Canada Open	Sue Peard	Tyna Barinaga Caroline Jensen	15–8, 14–17, 15–12	Winner
1966	U.S. Open	Sue Peard	Ursula Smith Ulla Strand	15–5, 15–5	Winner
1967	All England Open	Janet Brennan	Imre Rietveld Ulla Strand	15–11, 8–15, 4–15	Runner-up
1967	U.S. Open	Rosine Jones	Tyna Barinaga Caroline Jensen	8–15, 15–11, 15–8	Winner
1971	Dutch Open	Gillian Gilks	Karin Jørgensen Ulla Strand	15–6, 15–2	Winner
1971	All England Open	Gillian Gilks	Hiroe Yuki Noriko Takagi	10–15, 13–18	Runner-up
1972	Dutch Open	Gillian Gilks	Irmgard Gerlatzka Marieluise Wackerow	18–16, 15–5	Winner

Mixed doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1956	U.S. Open	Finn Kobberø	Bob Williams Ethel Marshall	15–6, 15–11	Winner
1957	U.S. Open	Finn Kobberø	Bob Williams Ethel Marshall	15–0, 15–9	Winner
1957	Jamaica Open	Allan Feres	W. H. Murray White Susan Devlin	15–9, 15–10	Winner
1958	U.S. Open	Finn Kobberø	Bob Williams Ethel Marshall	15–5, 17–14	Winner
1959	Canada Open	Don P. Davis	Bill Purcell Marjory Shedd	11–15, 15–3, 15–10	Winner
1959	U.S. Open	Michael Roche	Joe Alston Lois Alston	15–9, 10–15, 17–15	Winner
1960	U.S. Open	Michael Roche	Finn Kobberø Margaret Varner Bloss	7–15, 2–15	Runner-up
1961	German Open	Yeoh Kean Hua	Oon Chong Teik Sonia Cox	15–11, 15–12	Winner
1961	U.S. Open	Wynn Rogers	Joe Alston Lois Alston	18–13, 15–2	Winner
1962	U.S. Open	Wynn Rogers	Joe Alston Helen Tibbetts	15–4, 15–7	Winner
1964	German Open	Oon Chong Teik	Finn Kobberø Anne Flindt	14–17, 10–15	Runner-up
1964	Irish Open	Robert McCoig	Mac Henderson Catherine Dunglison	15–9, 15–8	Winner
1967	U.S. Open	Jim Sydie	Erland Kops Mimi Nilsson	18–13, 15–6	Winner