History of Badminton

The origin of the racquet sport badminton can be traced at least 2000 years ago to the children’s game
played by the civilization in Europe and Asia known as battledore (bat or paddle) and shuttlecock. It is
played by two persons using small rackets called battledores, which are made of parchment, plastic, or
rows of gut or nylon stretched across wooden frames, and shuttlecocks, made of a base of some light
material, such as cork, with trimmed feathers fixed around the top. Players try to bat the shuttlecock
back and forth as many times as possible without allowing it to fall to the ground. Greek drawings
represent a game almost identical with battledore and shuttlecock, and it was also popular in China,
Japan, India, and Thailand for at least 2,000 years.

Badminton is derived directly from the game “poona” or “poonai”, a descendant of battledore and
shuttlecock, that was made popular by the British military officers stationed in the town of Poona, India
in the 1860s. Initially, woolen balls were preferred by the upper classes in windy or wet conditions, but
ultimately shuttlecocks took over the role of a "ball." The retired officers then took the sport to England
and was introduced to the guests of the Duke of Beaufort. Thus, badminton took its name from
Badminton House in Gloucestershire, the ancestral home of the Duke of Beaufort and is now the base
for the International Badminton Federation, where the sport became popular since it was first played in
1873.

In March 1898, the first Open Tournament was held at Guildford and the first 'All England'
Championships were held the following year. The first unofficial all-England badminton championships
for men were held in 1899, and the first badminton tournament for women was arranged the next year.
The International Badminton Federation was formed in 1934 with nine founder members including
England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Denmark, Holland, Canada, New Zealand and France while India
joined as an affiliate in 1936. The first major IBF tournament was the Thomas Cup (world men's team
championships) in 1948. Since then, the number of world events has increased with the addition of the
Uber Cup (women's team), World Championships (individual events), Sudirman Cup (mixed team),
World Junior Championships and the World Grand Prix Finals.

Badminton is a relatively new Olympic sport that was demonstrated during the 1972 Munich Olympics
and eventually became an Olympic sport in Barcelona in 1992. The singles and doubles were the only
ones introduced in the Olympic Games then in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games mixed doubles was also
included. It is the only sport that has mixed doubles event in the Olympics. China, Indonesia and Korea,
England and Denmark are the only countries who have won gold medals at the Olympics since
badminton was introduced in 1992.