Sportsfolio

History & origins

The story of Badminton

Badminton was assembled by British officers in India from a children's game called battledore and shuttlecock, given a net and a name from an English country house, and then — after a century of European organisation — became almost entirely dominated by Asia, where it is now among the most popular sports on the continent.

Milestones

11 moments that shaped the modern game.

  1. c. 1600s

    Battledore and shuttlecock

    A cooperative game of keeping a shuttle in the air with small bats was played across Europe and Asia for centuries, with no net and no opponent to beat.

  2. 1870s

    Poona in British India

    British Army officers in Pune added a net and competitive scoring, and the game was known as 'Poona' after the city.

  3. 1873

    Badminton House

    The Duke of Beaufort's guests played the game at his Gloucestershire estate, Badminton House, and the name stuck to the sport rather than the venue.

  4. 1893

    The Badminton Association forms

    English clubs founded a governing body and published the first standard rules, including the distinctive hourglass court that was abandoned soon after.

  5. 1899

    The All England Championships

    The sport's oldest tournament began, and remained its unofficial world championship for most of the twentieth century.

  6. 1934

    An international federation

    Nine nations formed the International Badminton Federation, now the Badminton World Federation, with India joining as an affiliate two years later.

  7. 1948

    The Thomas Cup

    The men's world team championship began, followed by the women's Uber Cup in 1956. Both quickly became the sport's most prestigious team events.

  8. 1977

    The first World Championships

    An individual world title was finally contested, and the balance of power had already shifted decisively towards Asia.

  9. 1992

    Olympic sport

    Badminton was added to the Barcelona Games, and Indonesia won its first ever Olympic gold medals in any sport.

  10. 2006

    Rally scoring

    The old system, where only the serving side could score, was replaced with rally scoring to 21. Matches became shorter and far more television-friendly.

  11. 2016

    India's Olympic breakthrough

    P. V. Sindhu's silver in Rio, following Saina Nehwal's bronze in 2012, confirmed India as a genuine badminton power alongside China, Indonesia, Denmark and Malaysia.