History of Badminton

History

• The International Badminton Federation (IBF) was established in 1934, with Sir George Thomas as its first chairman
• The world-class badminton competition for men is known as the Thomas Cup
• The first Thomas Cup world championship was held in 1948
• The Uber Cup, a championship for women, started in 1957
• Badminton was included in the Asian Games in 1962
• The Badminton Association of India (BAI) was established in Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1934
• All India Badminton Championships are held under the supervision of the BAI
• The first National Badminton Championship took place in 1936, and was won by Vijay Madwakar
• Prakash Padukone won the national award for nine consecutive years (1971-1979)
• Nandu Natekar, Prakash Padukone's predecessor, won the award six times
• Syed Modi won the same prize continuously for eight years (1980-1987)
• Badminton was introduced to the Olympic Games in 1992
• Prakash Padukone won the All England Championship in 1980
• Pulela Gopichand won the All England Championship in 2001
• The aforementioned players are among the most successful in this sport in India

General Rules

Court

• The badminton court has a rectangular shape
• The length and width are: 44 x 20 feet
• Lines are white or yellow with a width of 40mm

Posts

• Two posts with a height of 1.55 m above the floor

Net

• It should be dark and its mesh should measure 15-20mm
• The net measures 760mm in width

Players

• Badminton can be played in singles or doubles formats
• In singles, 2 players play against each other
• In doubles, 2 players play on each side
• The side that serves initially is the serving side, and the other side is named the receiving side

Toss

• Before the beginning of the game, a toss takes place
• The winner decides to choose an end of the court or to serve first
• If they choose the court, the opposite player will serve first

Match

• A match consists of the best of three games

Scoring

• Each game consists of 21 points for both doubles, singles, and mixed
• Whoever wins two out of those three games is the victor.
• However, in ladies' singles, a game consists of 11 points
• According to new rules, 5 games consist of 7 points, and if the score is 6 all, there is a setting of 2 points

Fouls

• A service is a foul if:
• The player serves out of turn
• The player serves from the wrong side of the service court
• The player tricking the serve stands on the wrong side of the service court and receives the serve

Other

• Players are not allowed to leave the court without the umpire's permission

Measurements & Equipment

Specifications

• Size of the court of doubles: 44' x 20'
• Size of the court for singles: 44' x 17'
• Width of net: 2'6" or 760 mm
• Height of net from the floor at center: 5' or 152 cm
• Weight of the shuttlecock: 4.75g to 5.50g
• Number of feathers of a shuttlecock: 14 to 16
• Length of feathers of a shuttlecock: 2 ½ to 2 ¾ inches or 64-70mm
• Diameter of circle of feathers of shuttlecock: 2 ¼-2 ⅝ inches or 58-68mm
• Length of racket: 27 inches
• Weight of racket: 85 to 140g
• Length of frame: 11 inches
• Points in singles and doubles: 21 points
• Side galleries (each side): 1 foot 6 inches
• Back gallery: 2 feet 6 inches
• Number of sets: 5

Skills

• Grip of racket (right hand/left hand)
• Stance (defensive/offensive)
• Foot work/footwork on guard stance
• Pivot
• Forehand Return
• Back Court return
• Service types: short, long, receiver in service
• Stroke types: forehand, backhand, overhead, and net stroke

Important Tournaments

• Thomas Cup (World team men)
• Uber Cup (World Team women)
• Wills World Cup
• European Cup
• Konika Cup
• Yonex Cup
• Narang Cup (National Junior team men)
• Major's Cup
• China Cup
• Olympic challenge cup (National Women)
• 555 World Cup
• Shafi Qureshi Cup (National Junior team Women)
• All England Championship
• Asian Games
• National Badminton Championship
• World Cup

Venues

• N.D.M.C Indoor stadium, New Delhi
• Nehru Stadium, Indore
• University Stadium Thiruvananthpuram

Sports Awards

Arjuna Awardees

• 2000: George Thomas, P. Gopi Chand
• 2003: Madasu Shriniwas Rao
• 2004: Abhinna Shyam Gupta
• 2005: Aparna Popat
• 2006: Chetan Anand, Rohit Bhakar (Disabled Category)
• 2007: Anup Sridhar
• 2009: Saina Nehwal, Pural D Parmas (Disabled category)
• 2011: Jwala Gutta
• 2012: Ashwani Ponappa, Parupalli Kashyap
• 2013: P.V Sindhu
• 2014: V. Diju

Padamshri Awardees

• 1977: Meena Shah
• 1982: Prakash Padukone

Other questions answered

What's the length and breadth of badminton court for singles?

• 44 x 17 feet

What are the types of games in badminton?

• Singles
• Doubles

Brief history of badminton. Mentions the establishment of the International Badminton Federation (IBF) in 1934 and Badminton Association of India (BAI). Thomas Cup world championship, Uber Cup, and introduction to the Olympic Games are highlighted.