Where does badminton come from?

Badminton is popular all over the world, but especially in Asia. There seems to be a lot of misinformation out there about the real origin of the sport, so I did some research and thought I’d try to clear things up. It’s actually quite a fascinating story.

Many say that the English invented badminton, but we can actually trace it back to around 500 BC. C. in ancient China. There was a game called Ti Jian Zi, which involved a feathered ball, similar to the modern shuttlecock, but no rackets were used. We also know that by the time Christ was supposedly born, a game called Battledore and Shuttlecock was being played in China, Japan, and Greece. The game looks a bit more like today’s badminton, but it was really just a racket and a shuttlecock, the idea of ​​the game was to hit the shuttlecock back and forth most of the time.

By the 16th century, badminton had become a children’s game, then by the 17th century, the upper class of Europe had also become very fond of the game. However, it was now known by the French name of “jeu de volant”.

Meanwhile, a game called Poona was being developed in India that closely resembled the modern sport. British officers stationed in India were drawn to the game and learned the rules, bringing them back to England. Therefore, the Duke of Beauford introduced the game to nobles and royal society at his estate in Gloucestershire, England.

The estate was known as Badminton House. While playing the test game, the nobles would stretch out a piece of rope or make a sort of partition between the two players, each trying to move the shuttle away from their area. Soon the first ‘badminton club’ was formed, literally writing the rule book for the game we still follow today.

The game exploded and in 1899 the first national tournament was played. In 1934 the International Badminton Association was formed, initially with members from England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand and France. India joined in 1936 and more and more international championships and tournaments were created. In the 1970s, Asians, particularly Chinese women, were passionate about the sport. Asian teams, especially the Chinese, continue to dominate the sport to this day.

Badminton eventually became an Olympic sport prize at the 1992 Barcelona events.