Badminton was invented long ago and has a great history, as the history of badminton may be traced back to the 1800s in India when British military personnel stationed there established the sport.
A formal governing body for the sport, the International Badminton Federation, was created in 1934 and is still in place today.
With such a long history and widespread player base, this racket sport has acquired some fascinating traits that might even blow your mind. Likewise, badminton is one of the fastest racket sport in the world, where you need to perform some quick moves and different techniques in the game. And when the shuttle moves around the court, it travels at a speed of more than 300 km/h.
Rather than this, there are many other fascinating facts about this racket sport that we will discuss below. So, let’s dive in:
Fascinating Facts About Badminton
Let’s begin with:
1. Fastest racket sport in the world
Do you know? Badminton is the fastest racket sport in the world as the fastest racket sport in history with a record serve of 264.3 kilometers per hour by Malaysian player Tan Boon Heong. The nature of this sport is more dynamic, as it requires quick reaction speed, intense focus, and high-level agility.
It got the title of fastest racket sport because a single match holds an average of 1.72 hits per second, and a player completes around 50 to 60 hits in 40 to 50 seconds.
2. Second most popular sport in the world
What sport, after football, is the second most popular and commonly played worldwide?
Yes, you guessed right—it’s racket sport known as “Badminton.” It has been determined through research and other studies that 220 million individuals worldwide play badminton daily. Instead, badminton is one of the popular sports in Asia, and many of the world’s top players come from this region.
Also, badminton’s Olympic debut in 1996 drew more than 1.1 billion viewers, making it the most viewed sport at those Games. Unlike tennis, it is the only Olympic sport in which men and women compete against one another on the same court at the same time.
3. Most intense sport compared to tennis
Many people think racket sports, badminton, and tennis are similar. But it isn’t so because tennis matches last longer than badminton matches, but let me inform you that a badminton match is much more intense than a tennis match.
Also, in a badminton match, the intensity, number of rallies, number of shots, shots per rally, and distance covered are statistically higher than in tennis.
4. Badminton was originated in India
The root of badminton can be traced to ancient Greece, China, and India. It originated from the ancient game “Battledore and Shuttlecock,” played by children in India, where two or more players try to hit the shuttlecock with the help of a small racket and keep it in the air.
This sport originated in Pune, India and was named “Poona” after the Pune city. Later in the 1860s, Britisher officers stationed in Pune adopted this sport, and it became very popular and common among them.
In 1887, the duke of Beaufort took this sport to England from India, where it got its name after the Duke of Beaufort’s House in Gloucestershire, where this sport was played for the first time.
5. Racket strings were made from animal gut
Players used to string their rackets with the aid of a thin, durable cord fashioned from the intestines of animals, generally sheep, cats, or pigs, in the past, before synthetic racket strings were introduced to the market.
Moreover, these strings offer greater stability and repulsion than synthetic strings.
6. Shuttlecocks are made from the left wing feathers of a goose
Feather shuttlecocks usually hold an open conical shape as they are high-drag projectiles and are usually made up of left-wing goose feathers, which are embedded around a cork or rubber base.
It is so because of aerodynamics, as the left-wing spins clockwise, whereas the right-wing spins counterclockwise. For a stable flight, shuttlecocks should have feathers that spin clockwise, while the right-wing feathers are undesirable.
7. Badminton was initially played with the feet
Badminton’s predecessor, Ti Zan Ji, was originated in China. The shuttlecock used in this sport is slightly different from a standard shuttlecock, and players hit it with their feet as opposed to a racket.
It’s interesting to note that some regions of China still practice this sport.
8. The shortest and longest badminton match
The shortest badminton match to date was played for only six minutes. It was played between a South Korean player Ra-Kyung and an England player Julia Mann in Uber Cup, held in 1996 in Hong Kong.
The longest badminton match to date was played for approx 161 minutes. It was played between Japan players Kurumi Yonao and Naoko Fukuman and Indonesian players Greysia Polii and Nitya Krishinda Maheshwari during women’s doubles in Badminton Asian Championships, which was held in 2016 at Wuhan.
9. Highest jump smash
Indonesian badminton player Liem Swie King was one of the pioneers in introducing jump smashes to the International Circuit.
Also, he is famous for his jump smash executed a jump smash with a height of 1 meter, which was recorded as one of the highest jumps in badminton history.
10. The Asian domination of the sport
Badminton was introduced to Olympics in 1992, and players from different nations participated. Still, you will be amazed after knowing that Asian players have won 93 Olympic medals out of 103, and most of these Asian badminton players belong to China and Indonesia.
Rather than this, China and Indonesia are on the list of top badminton countries to win 70% of BWF series and international tournaments. And USA is the only non-Asian country to win Uber Cup in 1957, 1960, and 1963.
Final Words
So, these were some of the top 10 amazing facts about badminton, and I hope you enjoyed reading them.
And in case you face any problems or have any questions in your mind regarding this post, then feel free to ask us or pin it up in the comment section below.