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Badminton History
Badminton probably originated in India as a grownup's version of a very old
children's game known in England as battledore and shuttlecock, the
battledore being a paddle and the shuttlecock a small feathered cork, now
usually balled a "bird."
Played for centuries by children in India, Siam, and Japan, this was a
cooperative game in which the players worked together to keep the "bird" in
the air for as long as possible.
A net was added and the game had become a competitive sport called "poona"
by the 1860s, when British Army officers were playing it in India. Some of
them brought equipment back to England and introduced the new sport there
during the early 1870s.
It was played at a lawn party held by Duke of Beaufort at his country place,
Badminton, in 1873, and it became known as "the Badminton game" among
various guests who introduced it to other friends.
The Bath Badminton Club, organized in 1877, developed the first written
rules, which have remained essentially the same. In 1893, the Badminton
Association of England was founded as the first national governing body and
the first All-England championship was held in 1899.
The Badminton Club of New York was organized in 1878, but it was primarily a
social club. The Badminton Health Club of Boston, founded in 1908, devoted
more time to the sport and grew to more than 300 members by 1925. But
badminton didn't become genuinely popular in the U. S. until the 1930s.
In 1935, the American Badminton Association (ABA) was founded and it
conducted the first national championship tournament on April 1, 1937.
The International Badminton Federation, founded in 1934, planned to hold the
first world team championship tournament in 1939, but it was canceled
because of World War II and didn't take place until 1949.
Badminton was staged as a demonstration sport at the 1972 Olympics and it
was added to the Olympic program in 1992 with singles and doubles
competition for men and women. The mixed doubles event was added in 1996.
Badminton also became a Pan-American Games sport in 1995.
The ABA was renamed the U. S. Badminton Association in 1978. In 1989, the
organization became a full-fledged member of the U. S. Olympic Committee. It
has about 2,700 members, but more than 1 million Americans play badminton
recreationally at least 25 times a year, according to a recent study.
American players were among the world's best until the late 1960s. Perhaps
the greatest of all was Judy Devlin Hashman, a native of Manitoba. She won
more than 50 major championships from 1954 through 1967, including 12 U. S.
national titles and 10 All-England championships.
In recent years the best players have come from Indonesia, China, Malaysia,
Korea, and from the Scandinavian countries, especially Denmark and Finland.
However, with help from USOC funding, the USBA has launched a major
development program aimed at producing an Olympic medalist by 2004.
Badminton became a professional sport in the 1980s, when the IBF established
the World Grand Prix Circuit. The U. S. Open, which offers $200,000 in prize
money, is the highest paying tournament on the tour. The Grand Prix Finals
tournament has a total purse of $350,000.
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