Announcement of Judy Hashman’s Funeral

It is with sadness that BCBA report the passing of Judy Hashman nee Devlin on Sunday 5 May 2024. Surrounded by her family, Judy passed peacefully and with dignity at the Sobell House Hospice, Oxford.

Funeral details:

Thursday 30th May 2024, 12:00pm

South Oxfordshire Crematorium, Garford, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX13 5PA

This comes as very sad news for Berkshire County. Along with what you can read about her quality as a player, she also represented Berkshire over 50 times living just outside of Abingdon (Wootton) which was in Berkshire up until 1972. Judy was also was secretary in the early days and set up the first junior event which was the junior schools league which Judy ran, it was the first junior thing set up, which led to what we have now, BJBA followed on from what was her planted seeds.

Judy Hashman was born in Winnipeg, Canada on 22 nd October 1935, the daughter of the Irishman Frank Devlin one of badmintons first legends. Frank won an incredible 18 All-England titles in just nine years, between 1922 and 1931 – a truly mind-boggling feat which may never be surpassed.

Judy’s All England career began in 1954, at the age of just 18 years and 4 months. In this, her first appearance at the All England, the young Devlin won the women’s singles making her the youngest All-England champion ever. Partnered with her sister Sue aged 20 (later Peard), she won the woman’s doubles as well, this was the first of their six doubles titles. In the space of just three weeks, Judy won two US Open, two All England and three US junior national titles - as well as becoming a US lacrosse international.

 In 1955 and 1956 she lost in the Woman's Singles final of the All-England to the Texan Margaret Varner. She would gain revenge for these defeats however, securing consecutive trophies, vanquishing Varner in both finals in '57 & 58. 1959 saw Varner too busy playing tennis and squash for the USA to compete at the All- England, but Judy failed to take advantage - she lost to the 19-year-old English girl, Heather Ward (later Nielson).

Judy Hashman embarked on an incredible spell of dominance. From 1960 to 1964 shewould win five consecutive women's singles competitions; she moved head and shoulders above the competition. In 1965, this incredible run was broken; this was due, mainly, to the fact that she had a baby in the January. By the time March came around, she still achieved a highly credible 4 th round finish- once again demonstrating her exceptional abilities.

 Judy was back in the swings of things in 1966 and carried her number one seeding through to win the final against Miss Imre Rietveld from the Netherlands.

To finish the greatest career in woman's badminton, Judy resisted the immense Japanese challenge in 1967 which was led by Miss Noriko Takagi. Earlier, Miss Takagi had beaten Judy in the Uber Cup in New Zealand and pressure had mounted for the great star to bail outfrom the All-England while still at the top. But Judy chose to defend her title and in due course, she would face Takagi in the final. Judy managed to get back from one-game-to-love deficit and levelled to one game all, but the young Japanese girl's shots were deceptiveand Judy was on the verge of exhaustion. When the Japanese girl led by 5-1 in the third it looked like Judy's advisers were going to be proved right, but with her intense concentration and the will-to-win, she fought back to save a match point, eventually snatching a 12-10 win and claimed the title for the record-breaking 10th time.

Never before nor after did she play so well for so long, it is a tribute to her that she would climax a career with such a class performance. After the final, Judy pulled the curtain down on her glittering singles career- retiring at the top, as she had wanted.

Judy appeared in every All-England womans singles final between 1954 and 1967, apart from her break in 1965 following childbirth. This is a truly incredible, and surely places her near the top of the pantheon of great champions that the sport of badminton has created.

Judy won a total of 17 All-England titles, which included 10 woman’s singles titles, which is a record that has never been broken and 7 woman’s doubles titles, 6 of those with her sister Sue.

Judy was a member of the USA winning Uber Cup teams in 1957, 1960 and 1963.

In the middle of her playing heydays, Judy Devlin married Dick Hashman. Judy and Dick had once reached a semi-final in the mixed doubles at the All-England. In 1960, she moved to England and became a British citizen 10 years later. After gaining her new citizenship, Judy helped her adoptive country collect medals at the 1972 European Championships with one title in the team event and another one in the woman’s doubles with Gillian Gilks.

With Gillian Gilks she won the English National Championships Woman’s Doubles titles in 1972 and 1973.

Judy represented England at International level 8 times.

In 1978, Judy Hashman had a very brief but successful stint as head coach of the English team. She led the team to a gold medal at the European Mixed Team Badminton Championships.

With her exceptional career, it was no surprise that international honours were awarded to Judy. In 1985, she became the first woman to be awarded the International Badminton Federation Distinguished Service Award.

In 1995 she received one of the most coveted rewards for a female athlete when she was inducted into the International Woman’s Sports Hall of Fame. Judy joined international athletes such as Martina Navratilova and Sonja Henie. Two years later, Judy and her father

Frank, were voted into the International Badminton Federation Hall of Fame.

Although she did not quite topple her fathers All-England record, to think that the same family produce such a dynasty is amazing. A true legend of the All-England.

We send our condolences to Judy’s family at this sad time.