Ann Stephens (badminton)
Northern Irish international badminton player
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Ann Stephens née Ann Crossan (born c.1965), is a former international badminton player from Northern Ireland who competed at four Commonwealth Games and was an eight-time champion of Ireland.
Alpha BC, Lisburn
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | British (Northern Irish) | ||||||||||||||
| Born | c.1965 | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Badminton | ||||||||||||||
| Club | Holy Trinity BC Alpha BC, Lisburn | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Biography
Born Ann Crossan, she won the Ulster U15 doubles title at the beginning of 1977.[1] Her sister Lorraine Crossan was also a talented badminton player.[2]
In 1979 she was paying for Holy Trinity Badminton Club and was the Irish U18 doubles champion.[3] Later in 1980 she switched to play for the Alpha Badminton Club in Lisburn,[4] joining her sister Lorraine at the club.[5]
Crossan represented the Northern Irish team[6] at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia,[7] where she competed in the four events.[8]
Crossan partnered George Stephens in mixed doubles and the pair married in June 1985 at the Ballysillan Presbyterian Church in Belfast. Ann would play under her married name thereafter.[9] Other doubles partners included Bruce Topping, Rikki Keag and Peter Ferguson in mixed doubles[10] and Linda Andrews in women's doubles.[11]
Stephens went to a second Commonwealth Games after being selected for the 1986 Northern Irish team[12] at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland,[13] where she competed in the three events.[14] She then went to a third Commonwealth Games after being selected for the 1990 Northern Irish team[15] at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand.[16][17] Stephens represented Northern Ireland at the Commonwelath Games for a fourth time in 1994.[18][19][20]
She was an eight-times Irish champion at the Irish National Badminton Championships, winning three women's doubles[21] and five mixed doubles titles.[22]