Badminton
Badminton, called the world’s fastest racket sport, is played with rackets and shuttlecocks on a court divided by a net. Initially a form of recreation, it is now an Olympic sport with a professional tour. It is a major sport in most countries of northern Europe and southeast Asia, and virtually the national sport in Indonesia and several other countries. Denmark, Sweden, England, Holland, and Germany lead the European nations in their interest. The International Badminton Federation lists approximately 1.4 million as registered with national badminton associations around the world, although the actual number of people who play badminton is estimated at 10 times that figure.
History
Evidence of games similar to badminton appears as early as the 1st century B.C.E. in China,where Ti Jian Zi, or shuttlecock kicking,became popular.The game of Ti Jian Zi involved hitting a shuttlecock with one’s feet or hands, or occasionally with a bat. The game also was popular in Japan, India, and Siam, and spread to Sumeria and Greece.
In 14th-century England, the game of battledore shuttlecock, involving a racket or paddle and a shuttlecock, was widely played. Using no nets or boundaries, this was primarily a means of testing players’ skill in keeping the shuttlecock in play as long as possible. By the late 16th century it had become a popular children’s game, the object still being to hit the shuttlecock to each other, or to oneself, as long as possible.
During the 17th century, the game’s social status rose as it became a pastime for British royalty and the leisured classes. Early English settlers in America also enjoyed the game at this time. In the 1800s, the seventh Duke of Beaufort and his family were avid players at his Gloucester estate, called Badminton House. At this estate, a “new game”of badminton battledore, involving a net and boundaries, evolved; thus, the name “badminton.”
By 1867, a formal game of badminton was being played in India by English officers and their families, who developed the first rules. During the following three decades, badminton evolved into a competitive indoor sport, and clubs were formed throughout the British Isles.Beginning in the 1920s, badminton spread to northern Europe and North America and from India throughout the rest of Asia.By 1979 the game had become truly professional; in1985 it became an Olympic sport (with a 1992 debut in Barcelona), and was included in the Pan American Games in 1995. The International Badminton Federation, formed in 1934, governs all international badminton competition and has more than 125 member nations. A year-round international grand prix circuit worth $2 million a year in prize money currently attracts the top players to touring careers.
Rules and Play
Badminton differs from other racket sports in its use of a shuttlecock that must not touch the ground. These factors make badminton a fast game requiring quick reflexes and strong conditioning; top athletes have recorded smashes of over 320 kilometers (200 miles) per hour.
All officially sanctioned competition around the world is played indoors (recreational badminton is played outside as well).The badminton court measures 17 feet by 44 feet (5.2 meters by 13.4 meters) for singles play and 20 feet (6.1 meters) by 44 feet for doubles play.
Competitive badminton is played in five events: men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles.A badminton game consists of 15 points, except for women’s singles in which a game is 11 points. The best of three games constitutes a match. Points can be scored only by the serving side.
A typical rally in badminton singles consists of a serve and repeated high deep shots hit to the baseline (clears), interspersed with dropshots. If and when a short clear or other type of “set-up” is forced, a smash wins the point.More often than not, an error (where the shuttlecock is hit out-of-bounds or into the net) brings an end to a rally rather than a positive winning play.A patient player who commits few or no errors often wins by simply waiting for the opponent to err. In doubles, there are fewer clears and more low serves, drives, and net play.Again, the smash often ends the point.
The traditional feathered shuttlecock is used in all major badminton competitions. The badminton net stands 5 feet (1.524 meters) high at the center of the court and 5 feet, 1 inch (1.550 meters) at each end post. Badminton rackets, made of wood until the 1950s, today are made of various blends of carbon, boron, aluminum, and steel, are very light, and can be strung very tightly with natural gut or synthetic string.
Major Events and Players
Major international badminton competitions include the Olympic Games, the Thomas Cup and the Uber Cup, the World Badminton Championships, and the Sudirman Cup. The World Badminton Championships were initiated in 1977 to provide individual championships that would complement other competitions. The World Championships are currently held every odd-numbered year. The Sudirman Cup is the World Mixed Team Championship, instituted in 1989. The record-holder for most individual world badminton titles and World Championships titles [1977–present]) is the legendary U.S. player Judy Devlin Hashman, with 17. By nation, players from Denmark have won more individual world titles (77) than any other country. Indonesia holds the most men’s team world titles (9), and China and Japan are tied for the most women’s team world titles (5).Currently, Indonesian players dominate international competition. China is also near the top in international badminton competition. Chinese players captured four medals at the 1996 Olympics; South Korea and Malaysia took four and two, respectively. Badminton’s diversity—as an uncomplicated and lively backyard game to a multimillion-dollar professional sport—suggests that it is likely to remain popular at several levels. Although growing more visible, it has yet to achieve the status or cachet of tennis, and whether it will ever do so remains an open question.
