Sixteen facts about Badminton
 |
| badminton |
- Badminton is officially the fastest racquet sport in the world. The shuttle is smashed around the court at speeds of up to 200 mph.
- Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players (singles) or two opposing pairs (doubles), who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net.
- Badminton claims to be the second most-popular participation sport in the world. Only football (soccer) beats it.
- Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their opponents' half of the court.
- 1.1 billion people watched the first Olympic badminton tournament on TV.
- The shuttlecock (or shuttle) is a feathered projectile whose unique aerodynamic properties cause it to fly differently from the balls used in most racquet sports; in particular, the feathers create much higher drag, causing the shuttlecock to decelerate more rapidly than a ball.
- During an average top-level match ten shuttles are used with players hitting it roughly 400 times each. It's a tiring business - they can travel several miles around the court.
- Because shuttlecock flight is affected by wind, competitive badminton is played indoors.
- Since 1992, badminton has been an Olympic sport with five events: men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles, and mixed doubles, in which each pair consists of a man and a woman.
- Badminton is also played outdoors as a casual recreational activity, often as a garden or beach game.
- In Malaysia and Indonesia crowds of up to 15,000 people regularly fill the stands to cheer on their heroes.
- The record for the shortest match? Six minutes. Ra Kyung-min (South Korea) and Julia Mann (England) hold the record. Peter Rasmussen (Denmark) and Sun Jun (China) hold the record for the longest match - 124 minutes.
- The Chinese originally played a version of badminton called Ti Zian Ji. They didn't use racquets though, they used their feet.
- The International Badminton Federation was established in 1934 and now has 148 member countries including England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
- While most players choose synthetic strings, some still use gut made from the dried stomach lining of animals such as cows or cats.
- Olympic shuttles are made of 16 bird feathers, string and very strong glue. The Kansas City Museum is home to the world's largest shuttlecock - 48 times bigger than normal.
