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Badminton is a sport with a long history and is loved by the world. As a person who loves this sport, do you know anything about the history of badminton? Is it originated in China, where shuttlecock has been around since ancient times? Let’s find out.
Where Did Badminton Originate
Badminton has a long history. The badminton origin dates back to at least 2000 years along with the game of battledore and shuttlecock played in ancient Greece, India and China.
Badminton takes its name from Badminton House in Gloucestershire, the home of Duke Beaufort, where the sport was played in the last century. Gloucestershire is currently the headquarters of the International Badminton Federation.
Badminton Basics
The Court
The court is rectangular in shape and is divided into two halves by a grid. Courts are usually marked for both singles and doubles. The doubles court is wider than the singles court, but both are the same length.
The width of the court is 610 centimeters (20 ft), and in singles matches, the width is reduced to 518 centimeters (17 ft). The length of the court is 1340 centimeters (44 ft). Service fields are marked with a centerline dividing the width of the court, with a short serve at a distance of 198 centimeters (6 ft 6 in) from the net and by the outer and rear boundaries. . In doubles, the serve field is also marked with a long serve line, 76 centimeters (2 ft 6 inches) from the rear line.
The net is 155 centimeters (5 ft 1 inch) high at the edges and 152,4 centimeters (5 ft) high at the center. Net posts are placed over the doubles sidelines, even when singles is played.
Scoring
Each game is played up to 21 points, players score one point whenever they win regardless of whether they serve or not (this is different from the old system where players could only win one point when serve and each match is played up to 15 points). A match lasts for three sets. A player or pair must win two games (21 points each) to win the match. In subsequent games, the winners of the previous game will serve first.
If the score reaches 20-all, then the game continues until one side is two points ahead (such as 24–22), except when there is a 29-all tie, in which the game is played. go to the golden point. Whoever scores this point wins.
Equipment
Two things that are indispensable to play badminton are the racket and the shuttlecock.
Rackets
Badminton rackets are lightweight, with top-quality racquets weighing between 70 and 95 grams (2.5 and 3.4 ounces) without grip or strings.
Rackets are made up of a variety of materials, from carbon fiber composite to solid steel, that can be reinforced with a variety of different materials. Carbon fiber has an excellent strength-to-weight ratio, stiffness and excellent power transmission. Before using carbon fiber composite, the racquet is made of light metal like aluminum. Before that, the racquets were made of wood.
Cheap racquets are still usually made of metal like steel, but wooden racquets are no longer made for the regular market, due to their high volume and cost. Nowadays, nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes and fullerenes are added to the racquets to give them greater durability.
Shuttlecock
A shuttlecock has an open cone shape: the cone is made up of sixteen stacked feathers attached to the cork base. The cock is wrapped with thin leather or synthetic material.
Badminton Organization
IBF (International Badminton Federation) was established in 1934 with 9 members: Denmark, Canada, France, England, Netherlands, New Zealand, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. The United States joined four years later. Membership numbers have grown steadily over the next few years with a spike in new members following the opening of the Olympic Games in Barcelona.
Five regional confederations are associated with the IBF:
- Asia: Badminton Asia Confederation (BAC)
- Africa: Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA)
- Americas: Badminton Pan Am (North America and South America belong to the same confederation; BPA)
- Europe: Badminton Europe (BE)
- Oceania: Badminton Oceania (BO)
Global Tournaments
The Thomas Cup (men’s world team championship) was the first major IBF tournament in 1948. After that, world events have increased significantly with the addition of World Championships, the Uber Cup (women’s team), World Juniors, Sudirman Cup (mixed team) and World Grand Prix Finals.
1996 saw the last event of a hugely successful event, the World Cup. Started in 1981, the World Cup was formed to provide star players the chance to earn even more bonuses. As the World Grand Prix grew and the prize money increased, it felt that the World Cup served its purpose.
New contests are planned and the development of SuperSeries. It is predicted that these activities will attract more sponsorship, bonuses and television dollars.
Conclusions
So, where did badminton originate? Despite having British roots, world-class badminton players in Europe are mainly from Denmark. On the other hand, Asian countries dominate. Indonesia, Korea, China, and Malaysia along with Denmark have been at the forefront of the sport for the past few decades, with China currently the leader in recent years.
As the history of badminton associated with human civilization, the future of badminton looks even brighter!
