Badminton is officially the fastest sport in the World. Like every other sport, there are some interesting facts about badminton that will definitely amaze you. Let me take you through some of these interesting facts on badminton that will blow your mind.
Badminton is the second most popular sport in the World
Well, this fact might surprise you but it is true. After Football, Badminton is the second most participated sport in the World. It is played regularly by an estimated 220 million people around the World. In fact, it is particularly popular in Asia, with many of the best players gracing the game from that continent.
Badminton has proved its popularity in the Olympic domain as well. When it was introduced in 1992, records say that 1.1 billion people actually tuned in their TV Channels to watch the sport.
The Shortest and Longest Badminton match
The shortest badminton match ever recorded was at the 1996 Uber Cup in Hong Kong which lastest for a shocking six minutes. Ra Kyung-min South Korea defeated Julia Mann of England, 11-2, 11-1 in that match.
On the other hand, the longest match was recorded during the doubles semi-final at the 2016 Asian Championships. The match lasted a staggering 2 hours and 41 minutes. The Japenese pair of Naoko Fukuman and Kurumi Yonao played out of their skins to shock the third-seeded, Nitya Krishinda Maheswari and Greysia Polii 13-21, 21-19, 24-22, in 161 minutes to create a new world record.
A Shuttle is made from a left-wing of a goose
An average shuttlecock weighs 4.74 and 5.5 grams and the best of them are made using 16 feathers from the left-wing of a goose. To know how to change the speed of the shuttlecock manually, click here.
Why do they use the left-wing?
Well, Geese’s wings are related to the physics of sports. The 16 feathered shuttlecocks, when smashed into the air, spins clockwise only if the features belong to the left-wing of a goose. But do the same with the right-wing feathers of a goose and your shuttlecock rotates counterclockwise — which totally screws the game and the players.
To ensure satisfactory flight properties, it is preferable to use feathers from a right or left-wing for each shuttle separately and not mix them as feathers from different wings are shaped differently. Duck feathers are also used, but they are of a lower quality than goose feathers.
The Racquet strings are made from the stomach lining of cats
Badminton strings were made from the dried stomach lining of animals like cats or cows. While some still use it, most players have shifted to using synthetic strings.
Badminton is a more intense sport than Tennis
Even though Tennis matches last longer than badminton matches, statistically, one badminton match is much more intense than a tennis match. The match intensity, no of rallies, no. of shots, shots per rally, and distance covered is statistically higher in a game of badminton.
Asian Domination of Badminton
Since the introduction of badminton into the Olympics in 1992, Asian badminton players have won 93 out of 103 Olympic medals.
Also, 70% of the BWF event winners are from Asia, with the most successful countries being China and Indonesia.
Since the inception of the Thomas Cup in 1948, only 5 countries have won it so far with four of them being Asian Countries. (Updated 2018)
Indonesia- 13
China-10
Malaysia-5
Denmark-1
Japan-1
Origin of the name
The game existed in India before the 15th century where it was called ‘Poona’ because it was originated in the city of Pune. The game was bought by the British officers back into their country. This game was reintroduced and popularised at the ‘Badminton House’ which was Duke of Beaufort’s residence in Gloucestershire, England. Therefore, it was decided to name the sport – badminton.
Fastest badminton smash
The doubles specialist from Denmark, Mads Kolding smashed the shuttle at speed of 426 km/h in the PBL(Premier Badminton League in India).
However, the World record is held by Boon Heong of Malaysia, clocking a whopping 493 km/h. This was recorded under test conditions. To know about the five fastest smashes in the history of badminton, click here.
Longest Rally in Badminton
In 2015, the match between Naoko Fukuman/Kurumi Yonao vs Poon Lok Yan/Tse Ying Suet ended after 256 shots, which took 4.5 minutes.
Highest Jump Smash
Liem Swie King is a badminton player from Indonesia, who was famous for his jump smash. He was one of the first players who started using jump smashes on the International Circuit. He achieved a height of 1 meter while executing a jump smash which was one of the highest jumps in badminton.
Final Thoughts
I hope you enjoyed reading these interesting facts about badminton.
Thanks for reading. Keep playing!
