Joseph Francis Devlin (19 January 1900 – 27 October 1988) was an Irish

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

player.

Badminton career

Devlin is the second most successful player ever in the

All England Open Badminton Championships The All England Open Badminton Championships is the world's oldest badminton tournament, held annually in England. With the introduction of the BWF's latest grading system, it was given Super Series status in 2007, upgraded to Super Series Premi ...

with 18 titles between 1925 and 1931, including three triple championships in 1926, 1927 and 1929. He also won four Irish Championships. Despite being Irish he was part of the English team that toured Canada in 1925 to promote the sport on behalf of the Canadian Badminton Association which had recently been formed in 1921. He was living in Beckenham, Kent and worked as a Salesman. He was also part of a second English touring team that visited Canada during 1930. A match was held at the Granite Club in Toronto which England won 7–2.

Personal life

Devlin's daughters, Susan Devlin and Judy Devlin, were also very successful badminton players.

Awards

Frank Devlin was a right-handed player, and was included in the

Badminton Hall of Fame The Badminton World Federation (BWF) Hall of Fame is located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It honours both players and other contributors to the sport of badminton. The BWF Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization with the goal to preserve, celebrat ...

in 1997, together with his daughter Judy Devlin.

Major achievements

References

;General
ChinaBadminton: Frank Devlin (爱尔兰)
1900 births 1988 deaths Irish male badminton players Badminton players from Dublin (city) 20th-century Irish sportsmen {{Ireland-badminton-bio-stub