Badminton Facts

Did you know that:

• British publications in the 1870's routinely showed badminton scenes to poke fun at parliamentary or legal actions.
• A badminton player appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated in the 1950's.
• Parker Brothers manufactured a boxed badminton/battledore set in the 1890's.
• Badminton has spawned several shuttlecock related games including Petecada (Brazil) and Iniaca (Germany, Brazil and Japan).
• Badminton was a popular Hollywood sport in the 1930's; with tickets for the World Badminton Championships in 1935 (between Jack Purcell (Canada) and Jess Willard (America)) costing $3.30 at the Ambassador Auditorium.
• There are over 77 different badminton related stamps from 21 different countries.
• That Badminton rackets and shuttlecocks have come in a variety of different sizes and shapes over the years.
• 131 countries are members of the IBF (International Badminton Federation)
  
  
• the world's fastest racket sport: a shuttle can leave the racket at a speed of almost 200 mph
  
  
• a badminton player can cover more than one mile in just one match
  
  
• a shuttlecock weighs between 4.74 and 5.50 grams
  
  
• the best shuttles are made from the feathers from the left wing of a goose
  
  
• 16 feathers are used to make a shuttle
  
  
• the biggest shuttle in the world can be found on the lawns of the Kansas City Museum - 48 times larger than the real thing, 18 feet tall and weighing 5000 pounds
  
  
• the Thomas Cup, the men's world team championships, has been won by only three countries since it began in 1948 - Malaysia,Indonesia and China
  
  
• the only time the Uber Cup, the women's world team championships, was won outside Asia was by the USA in 1957, 1960 and 1963; other holders are China, Indonesia and Japan
  
  
• it is an American, Judy Hashman, who holds the record number of All-England titles - 17 in total
  
  
• the first US championships in Chicago in 1937 were played on 21 courts
  
  
• famous personalities who play badminton include Paul Newman, Diego Maradonna and Nick Faldo
  
  
• badminton's history dates back to Ancient Greece and the early Far-Eastern civilisations; versions of the game, sometimes using a foot instead of a racket, have been depicted on pottery around 3000 years ago, in China
  
  
• once known as battledore and shuttlecock, the game as we know it today took its name from Badminton House in Gloucestershire, England - home of the Duke of Beaufort
  
  
• badminton became an Olympic sport in 1992
  
  
• more than 1.1 billion people watched badminton's Olympic debut on TV
  
  
• the two most successful badminton countries are China and Indonesia which between them have won 70% of all IBF events
  
  
• crowds of up to 15000 are common for major badminton tournaments in Malaysia and Indonesia

Badminton vs Tennis

	Tennis		Badminton
Time	3 hrs. 18 mins.	1 hr. 16 mins.
Ball/Shuttle in Play	18 mins.	37 mins.
Match Intensity*	9 percent	48 percent
Rallies	299	146
Shots	1,004	1,972
Shots Per Rally	3.4	3.5
Distance Covered	2 miles	4 miles

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