No matter how popular Cricket, Football, Basketball and other games are, Badminton holds a unique spot in the sporting world. Unlike other games, there are limited gears, the space required is limited, and the game is parallelly thrilling. The game was first introduced in the 1850s and played with a ball instead of a shuttlecock.
With the intense hype of the game, it got recognition at the Olympics in 1992. Today, there is massive popularity of the game at several international Badminton tournaments. But the prime one among them is the BWF Badminton World Championship. Let’s dive into this article and uncover everything about the Badminton World.
Starting with the history of the Badminton World Championship
Let’s discuss some of the historical moments of Badminton!
Early players used to play the game with a ball, known as Poona, and a Battledore. Battledore was an equipment in the 1850s that functions as the racquet. The origin of the game lies in India, by a British expatriate in the 1870s and was pretty popular then.
With introducing the first fresh rules for the game in 1873, there was a launch of a Badminton club in Folkestone in 1875. In the beginning, 1 to 4 players used to play from each side. However, it soon became a rule that either two or four players could play the game. Until the year 1887, the players played the game under the rules of Pune. But, in 1890, there was a change in the rules of the legendary game.
J. H. E. Hart and Bagnel Wild revised the rules. In 1893, the Badminton Association of England (BAE) officially published these rules and officially launched the sport in September of the same year. This led to the beginning of the championship era.
BAE started the All England Open Badminton Championships, which included competitions between men’s, women’s and mixed doubles, in 1899. Initially, there was no singles competition, but it was added a year later, in 1900.
In 1934, several nations except India formed the Badminton World Federation. India became a part of the alliance in 1936. Today, BWF governs international Badminton.
Now, coming to the world championship of Badminton. The Badminton World Federation sanctioned it, and it was first played in 1977. From 1977 to 1983, there used to be a Badminton world championship every three years. Further, from 1985 to 2005, it was played once every two years, and after 2006, it was played every year except for the years of the Summer Olympics.
Talking about the locations, the Badminton world championship has been organised worldwide. And many nations have played and ruled the game. Of all the countries of the world, China, Indonesia, Denmark, and South Korea are the most influential nations in the Badminton World Championships.
Format, Rules, Scoring Systems, and Equipment!
Badminton is a simple game. However, there are rules that the players need to follow.
Formats
Ideally, professional Badminton has five formats in total.
- Men’s Singles
- Men’s Doubles
- Women’s Singles
- Women’s Doubles
- Mixed Doubles
All the doubles and singles matches are the best of the three games. Any side that scores 21 points wins the game.
Rules
As per BWF, either two or four players (two on each team for doubles) can be a part of the game.
The side that finishes a rally scores a point. A rally is the continuous hitting of shots across the net by the teams involved. The side that fails to hit the shuttlecock, and when it touches the ground, the opponent team scores a point.
Both teams change sides after each game.
The team that wins the point gets to serve the birdie, a.k.a; shuttle. Initially, a player serves from the right service court and after scoring each even point, one must serve from the right side. In case of an odd point, one must serve from the left service court. The service is done diagonally when the server and receiver stand on opposite ends of the court. No player gets to serve twice in a row. Every service is done by a different player in the pre-defined order.
When to consider a point?
As soon as the shuttlecock touches the ground.
When the shuttlecock hits the net or passes under the net.
When the shuttlecock lands outside the periphery of the court.
If the shuttlecock is hit before it passes over the net or your body or racquet touches the net.
Scoring System
The side that scores 21 points first gains victory.
A point is scored on service and is bestowed to the side that wins the rally.
If the score is 20-20, either side must score two clear points to win, whereas if the case is 29-29, the side that scores the point 30 wins the game.
Equipment
There are not many pieces of equipment in the game of Badminton. Other than the basic gears like a net, shuttlecock, and two racquets, one can have a grip, a Badminton outfit, socks, a wristband, and a headband.
6 Legendary Players of the Game!
Let’s talk about the famous Badminton players who have successfully aced the game with their stunning conduct.
1. Morten Frost Hansen
Let’s begin with the titan of the game. Morten Frost Hansen is a former Badminton player and coach. He represented Denmark, which still stands at number three of the most influential countries in the game. Morten has mastered and ruled every other Badminton competition except for the Badminton World Championship.
He bagged two silver medals in the Badminton World Championship and won the All England Open Badminton Championships in 1982, 84, 86 and 87. Morten has two European and seven Nordic championship titles under his belt. As a coach, Morten Frost Hansen helped Denmark win the Olympic gold in 1996.
2. Tony Gunawan
Regarded as one of the greatest shuttlers of all time, Tony Gunawan is an Indonesian-American who started his professional career in the 1990s. In his remarkable tenure, Tony Gunawan has been a bearer of the 2000 Olympic gold medal, the 2001 IBF World Championship, and the 2005 IBF World Championship.
Tony Gunawan was also a member of the 2000 Indonesia Thomas Cup team, which was a world champion. He played for Indonesia from 1992 to 2001. Further, he has coached and played for the United States of America from 2001 and beyond.
3. Han Aiping
Han Aiping was a force to be reckoned with in Badminton. She began her Badminton training at 10, and by 16, she joined the National Chinese Team. At 17, she won the championship hosted by the World Badminton Federation in 1979. She was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism in 1980, which took her two years to recover from. She was back in 1982 when she secured a silver in the Chinese National Badminton Championships. The player securing gold became her greatest partner and rival, Li Lingwei.
In 1983, she won the singles title at Japan Open and the singles and doubles title at Badminton World Cup. Han retired in 1989.
4. Kento Momoto
He is a Japanese Badminton master who is popular for his skilful play style on the court. Coached by Yosuke Nakanishi, Kento Momoto began his professional career in 2011 by participating in the 2011 World Junior Championships. After the initial speed bumps in his career, Kento Momoto always impressed his fans.
The player has bagged two Asian, two World Championships, and one All-England title. In light of these and many other titles, Kento Momoto was named as a player with “The most Badminton men’s singles titles in a season” in the Guinness Book of World Records. He won 11 titles in 2019 itself.
5. Lin Dan
When it comes to the chief performers of the game, Lin Dan tops the list. He is a former Chinese Badminton player who is regarded as the greatest Badminton player of all time. And there are several reasons for him so-called. He has all nine major Badminton titles: World Championships, Asian Games, Thomas Cup, World Cup, Sudirman Cup, Super Series Masters Finals, Olympic Games, All England Open, and Asian Championships.
Lin Dan is a two-time Olympic, five-time World, and six-time All-England champion. He became popular in the BWF Badminton Hall of Fame in May 2023.
6. Saina Nehwal
She is an Indian professional shuttler who made her debut at 15 when she played and won the Asian Satellite Tournament hosted in New Delhi. Post that, the streak of winning never left Saina. She has given tough competition to the top-level players of the world, like Huaiwen Xu and Jiang Yanjiao, in the Badminton World Championship.
Saina has competed thrice in the Olympics and bagged one bronze in her second appearance in London in the year 2012. So far, the Indian shuttler has 24 international titles under her belt and secured the world’s number-one ranking once in 2015.
Unforgettable Records and Moments of the Game!
Though every second of each match is memorable in Badminton, here are some of the prime world records in Badminton.
- Prakash Padukone and All England title
In the 1980s, Prakash Padukone defeated the two-time defending champion from Indonesia, Liem Swie King, to chisel his name on the All-England title. The score recorded for the game was 15-3, 15-10 in the end.
- Lee Chong Wei and the fastest smash
At the 2015 Hong Kong Open, Lee Chong Wei hit a smash that challenged the speed of sound. The smash recorded a speed of 408 mph which helped him bag the tournament.
- Longest Badminton match
In the 1997 World Championship of Glasgow, a men’s singles match between Peter Rasmussen of Denmark and Sun Jun of China lasted for over two hours straight. In the end, Dane won by 16-17, 18-13 and 15-10.
Conclusion
So, these are some of the authentic players and moments of Badminton. If this has excited you to be a player, don’t let that fire go away. Play and practise hard, and one day you may get to compete in the reputed Badminton world championship. Go and get started now!
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