Margaret Varner Bloss - Badminton Career

Badminton Career

Perhaps Ms. Varner's most impressive accomplishments came in badminton, which she took up at Texas Woman's University in the late 1940s, having already gained prominence in junior and collegiate tennis. In 1955 and 1956 she won consecutive Women's Singles titles at the All-England Championships, then the world's most prestigious badminton tournament for individual players. She was a runner-up in the All England Singles in 1957, 1958 and 1960, and shared the Doubles title in 1958. The fact that she won only one U.S. Singles title in badminton (1955) is largely attributable to the presence of two formidable contemporaries: first, Ethel Marshall, and later, Judy Devlin Hashman. Along with Ms. Varner they form a kind of "Great Triumvirate" of American Women's Badminton.

Ms. Varner was a member of the world champion U.S. Uber Cup (Women's International Badminton) teams of 1957 and 1960. After helping to secure victory in the second of these triennial events she retired from badminton competition. She was inducted into the U.S. Badminton Hall of Fame (now called the Walk of Fame) in 1965 and the World Badminton Hall of Fame in 1999.