BADMINTON
Origins of the Game
The sport of badminton has its origins in ancient civilizations in Europe and Asia. The ancient game
known as battledore (bat or paddle) and shuttlecock probably originated more than 2000 years ago.
In the 1600s Battledore and Shuttlecock was an upper class pastime in England and many European
countries. Battledore and Shuttlecock was simply two people hitting a shuttlecock backwards and
forwards with a simple bat as many times as they could without allowing it to hit the ground.
A contemporary form of badminton - a game called ‘Poon’, was played in India in the 1800s where a net
was introduced and players hit the shuttlecock across the net. British officers in the mid 1800’s took this
game back to England and it was introduced as a game for the guests of the Duke of Beaufort at his
stately home ‘Badminton’ in Gloucestershire, England where it became popular.
In March 1898, the first Open Tournament was held at Guildford the first 'All England' Championships
were held the following year. Denmark, the USA and Canada became ardent followers of the game
during the 1930s.
Olympic Games Sport - 1992
Badminton is a relatively new Olympic Games sport. After being a demonstration sport in Munich in
1972, badminton became an Olympic sport in Barcelona in 1992 with the singles and doubles disciplines
introduced for the first time in the Olympic Games. In Atlanta in 1996, a mixed doubles event was
included and this is the only mixed doubles event in all of the Olympic sports.
The following countries have won medals in badminton at an Olympic Games since its introduction in
1992 - China, Denmark, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Russia.
Susi Susanti from Indonesia won the women’s singles in Barcelona, becoming Indonesia’s first medallist
in the 40 years Indonesia had competed at the Games. In the same Olympic Games, Alan Budi Kusama
won Indonesia’s second gold medal in the men’s badminton singles.
Rules and Regulations
Doubles and Singles:
Badminton can be played by two or four players. In a singles, two single players (two men or two
women) play against each other. A doubles consists of two opposing pairs of players. There are ladies'
doubles (two pairs of ladies playing against each other), men's doubles (two pairs of two men playing
against each other) and mixed doubles (two pairs consisting of one man and one woman playing against
each other). The game therefore has five disciplines: ladies' singles, ladies' doubles, men's singles, men's
doubles, and mixed doubles.
Scoring System
A match is in a best-of-three-games format with each game played to 21 points.
A point is awarded for each time a rally ends.
Service is awarded to the side that won the last rally.
At 20-all, the side which gains a 2-point advantage first, wins that game.
At 29-all, the side which reaches 30 first, wins that game.
The side winning a game serves first for the next game.
Toss
Before play begins, a toss will be conducted and the winning side shall decide whether to either:
Serve or receive first
Start play on one side or the other
If no coin is available, players can hit the game shuttlecock into the air and grant choice to the side in
which the shuttlecock’s head faces.
Interval and Change of Sides
When the side of the leading score reaches 11 points, players may choose to have a 60-second
interval.
When a game ends, players are allowed a 120-second interval.
After each game, players change sides.
In the third game, players change sides when the leading score reaches 11 points.
COURT DIMENSIONS
