Badminton History

Badminton becoming known since at least two thousand years to the game of battledore and shuttlecock played in ancient Greece, China and India.

Badminton originated  took its name from Badminton House in Gloucestershire, the ancestral home of the Duke of Beaufort, where this sport was played in the last century. Now Gloucestershire is knwon as the base for the International Badminton Federation.

The IBF was founded in 1934 with 9 members – Canada, Denmark, ,France, Netherlands, England, New Zealand, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Then The United States joined 4 years later. Membership increased steadily over the next few years with a surge in new members after the Olympic Games debut at Barcelona.

Badminton event was first held is the Thomas Cup (Men’s world team championships) in 1948. Since then, the number of world events has increased to 7, with the addition of the Uber Cup (ladies’ team), World Championships, Sudirman Cup (mixed team), World Juniors, World Grand Prix Finals and the World Cup.
The World Cup invitational event started in 1981 and is organized by the International Management Group (IMG). The World Cup series is due to end in 1997 and the IBF is considering organizing exhibition matches featuring the world’s top players to replace the World Cup.

For the recent Thomas & Uber Cups in Hong Kong, the sale of commercial and television rights was a multi-million dollar contract. And it’s not just in Asia. In Europe, also, there’s a growing number of companies bidding for rights. Television companies world-wide are already buying exclusive rights to the 1997 World Championships, to be held in Glasgow, Scotland.

The next phase in the rise and rise of international badminton has been to retake the USA. The US was an early member of the IBF and initially one of the most successful. When the Uber Cup was introduced in 1956, Americans won the first three events. But then interest waned.

Badminton is a well liked and familiar sport in the USA, but predominantly is usually played as a fun game in the back yard or on the beach. We know that once Americans see the other badminton – international badminton, the world’s fastest racket sport – they will want to see and play more. The Atlanta Olympics started to raise the sport’s profile in the US. The event was a sell-out and became one of the “must-see” sports. Ex-President Jimmy Carter, Chelsea Clinton, Paul Newman and Princess Anne were among the celebrities who came to watch. David Broder of the Washington Post reported: “seeing one of the supreme athletic spectacles of my life”.

1996 was a landmark in USA badminton. It’s not only the Atlanta Olympic Games that started to generate tremendous interest in the US market. In December 1995 the IBF introduced a new concept tournament in California, the Hong Ta Shan Cup; a men’s invitation tournament with the best players and big prize money. There are now plans plans to add a women’s event and to increase the prize money. The Hongtashan Group has gone on to sponsor the US Open, increasing the prize money to $200,000 . This makes the event the most valuable World Grand Prix event in the series and gives it six-star status.

The degree of change is increasing. Badminton’s debut as an Olympic Games sport has manifestly boosted interest internationally. The STAR TV agreement has increased the sport’s coverage dramatically. Sponsors and television companies are being attracted to a sport which gives them access to the Asian economies. And, spectators are increasingly attracted to the “exciting mix of angles, tactics, touch, reaction and fitness that would exhaust a squash champion.