Audrey Glenys Bates (4 April 1922 – 21 November 2001) was a Welsh international athlete in four sports for Wales:

table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

, squash and

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

. She as inducted into the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame posthumously in 2002.

Biography

Bates was born in Cardiff, the daughter of Charlie Bates. She had twin sister, Barbara, and two other sisters; their father was an accountant and amateur golfer.Audrey Bates
Women and Sports: Wales Project, Women's Archive Wales. She was educated at Howell's School,

Llandaff Llandaff (; ; from 'church' and ''River Taff, Taf'') is a district, Community (Wales), community and coterminous electoral ward in the north of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It was incorporated into the city in 1922. It is the seat of the Bisho ...

, and was later the school's games coach. During World War II she worked at the an ordnance factory in

Llanishen Llanishen (, ''llan'' church + ''Isien'' Saint Isan) is a district and community in the north of Cardiff, Wales. Its population as of the 2011 census was 17,417. Llanishen is the home of the former HMRC tax offices, the tallest buildings i ...

. She retired from school work in 1982. She died in 2001, at the age of 79, in Cardiff.

Sports career

In addition to competing in table tennis, squash, and tennis, she was an active player of lacrosse, golf, and field hockey. She was president of the

Welsh Lacrosse Association The Welsh Lacrosse Association (WLA) is the Governing bodies of sports in Wales, governing body for lacrosse in Wales. It was recognized by the International Federation of Women's Lacrosse Associations in 1972, the first year of the IFWLA. It is ...

. She was awarded the Queen's Jubilee Medal in 1977, "for services to sport". Bates was posthumously inducted into the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.

Table tennis

Bates won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

in the

1951 World Table Tennis Championships The 1951 World Table tennis, Table Tennis Championships were held in Vienna from March 2 to March 11, 1951. Medalists Team Individual References External linksITTF Museum
{{World Table Tennis Championships 1951 World Table Tennis Champ ...

in the Corbillon Cup (women's team event) with Audrey Coombs and Betty Gray for Wales.

Squash

She was an international squash player and competed in the

British Open Squash Championships The British Open Squash Championships is the oldest 'open' tournament in the game of squash (open to both professional and amateur players). It is widely considered to be one of the two most prestigious tournaments in the game, alongside the ...

as a seeded player. She played for Wales between 1947 and 1965.

Tennis

She first played tennis at the Radyr club age just 9, before joining the Whitchurch and Cardiff Lawn Tennis Club. Audrey played at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

in the singles and doubles and was a member of the Welsh lawn tennis team from 1947 to 1954.

References