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Badminton
Badminton, game played on
an indoor court by two or four players with
rackets and a shuttlecock. The net is fixed so
that its top edge is 1.52 m (5 ft) from the
floor at the centre and 1.55 m (5 ft 1 in) at
the posts. The racket is lightweight and
approximately 66 cm (26 in) long, while its head
is 21 cm (8.5 in) wide at its broadest point.
The shuttlecock has a cork base fitted with 16
goose feathers to stabilize it: many of the
feathers are now made of nylon or plastic. The
court resembles that in tennis and is 13.4 m (44
ft) long and 6.1 m (20 ft) wide.
The scoring differs from tennis however. In
singles, the server starts in the right service
court and serves into the opposite right service
court. If the server wins a rally, one point is
scored. The next service is from the left court
to the opposite left court. This alternating
process goes on so long as the server is winning
points. Only the server can win points: should
he or she lose a rally, the other player does
not win a point but instead wins the right to
serve. As in tennis, points are won when a
player cannot return the shuttlecock or hits it
out of the court. In men's badminton 15 points
wins the game provided the score of the winner
exceeds that of the loser by at least two
points. If the score reaches 14-all, the player
who first reached that figure can nominate to
play on to 15 or 17 points. In women's play, 11
points wins a game and if the scores are level
at 10 each, then there is an option to play on
to 13 points. Women's doubles matches play to 15
points.
The sport abounds in positional play and subtle
maneuvers, especially in the doubles game,
where long rallies are commonplace. There is a
wide variety of stroke play ranging in power from
delicate drop shots up to fierce overhead
smashes, and the players need quick reflexes as
well as a sharp turn of speed.
The game is named after Badminton in
Gloucestershire, England, which is the family
seat of the dukes of Beaufort. It is believed to
have been invented there in about 1867. It is
possible, however, that British army officers
had already devised it as a recreation in India
and brought it to the Beaufort family. Its most
obvious forerunner is the old English game of
battledore and shuttlecock, and a similar game
was also played in China over 2,000 years ago.
Badminton became popular very quickly and the
Badminton Association was founded in Great
Britain in 1893. The sport has also flourished
in Denmark, Japan, China, South Korea,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, and New Zealand.
A very high proportion of champions (both men
and women) come from the Far East. The world
governing body is the International Badminton
Federation, founded in 1934, which now has 147
affiliated member nations.
The principal competitions are: the Men's World
Team Championship, otherwise known as the Thomas
Cup, which was first competed for in 1948-1949;
the Women's World Team Championship, the Uber
Cup, instituted in 1977 and now staged
biennially; the All England Championships, first
played for in 1899 and open to competitors from
all nations; and the European Championships,
staged biennially from 1968. Badminton was
played as a demonstration sport in the 1972 and
1988 Olympics and became a medal sport in 1992
when all the champions were from Indonesia and
South Korea. Since then the game has seen the
emergence of Chinese players, with four of the
five gold medals at the Sydney Olympics (in
2000) going to Chinese competitors.
Badminton In India
The game of badminton in
India may lack the glamour of its more
illustrious cousins like cricket and tennis, but
the game is still being taken up by a healthy
number of youngsters across the country.
Despite international success being far and few
between, the domestic badminton circuit is alive
and kicking thanks to the rich pool of talents.
But the early promise shown by these kids do not
transform into success at the big stage and the
Badminton Authority of India needs to something
about it.
Apart from the legendary Prakash Padukone and
Gopichand, Indian badminton stables have churned
out quality players like Abhin Syam Gupta,
Nikhil Kanetkar and Sachin Ratti who have upset
fancied opponents on more occasions than one.
But they have not been able to produce the
quality and killer instinct that so often
separates the champions from the also-rans.
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