Badminton (Olympic sport since 1992)

   About

   Made-for-television radar guns instantly flash the speed of serves, volleys and pitches to the sporting public around the world these days, but few viewers could name the world's fastest racket sport. The title belongs to badminton.

   The flight of the shuttlecock, a missile of cork and goose feather that players volley across the net, has been recorded at speeds of 260 kilometres per hour. Speed, agility and lightning-fast reflexes are essential to the game. Add stamina, too - players have been known to cover more than six kilometres in a single match.

   While contemporary badminton first appeared in the mid-19th century, it evolved from the game battledore and shuttlecock, which can be traced back to ancient Greece, China, Japan and India.

   Especially popular in Asia and Europe today, badminton became a full competition sport at the Olympic Games in 1992.

   Competition

   A badminton match comprises the best of three games. A coin is tossed before the first game, and the winner of the toss may serve first or pick an end of the court. Only the serving side can score, and the winning team needs 15 points in doubles and men's singles, or 11 in women's singles.

   Olympic badminton consists of five events - men's singles and doubles, women's singles and doubles, and mixed doubles. Each involves a single-elimination tournament, with the top eight players or pairs seeded.

   List of events

   -- doubles Men

   -- singles Men

   -- doubles Women

   -- singles Women

   -- doubles Mixed

History

   Discipline's origin

   Before Badminton House, there was poona. Before poona, there was "jeu de volant". Before that, battledore and shuttlecock, and, before that, Ti Jian Zi. It's not easy tracking the ancestry of the sport now known as badminton.

   As far back as the 5th century BC, the Chinese were playing Ti Jian Zi, or shuttle-kicking, a game played with the feet. The shuttlecock was there, but it remains unclear whether it led to the game of battledore and shuttlecock that arose about five centuries later in China, Japan, India and Greece. The battledores were the early versions of today's racquets. By the 1600s, battledore and shuttlecock had developed into a popular children's game. It soon became a favourite pastime of nobles and the leisured classes of many European countries, becoming known as "jeu de volant" on the continent.

   In India, a game closer to modern badminton, poona, had evolved by the mid-19th century. While British army officers stationed there were learning the game, the Duke of Beaufort was introducing it to royal society at his country estate, Badminton House in Gloucestershire, England. Within four years, the Bath Badminton Club had formed, and a new version of the game played there laid the basis for today's rules.

   Olympic history

   Badminton was contested as a demonstration sport during the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. It debuted as a full medal sport in 1992 at Barcelona. Men and women compete at the Olympics in both singles and doubles, and the events have been dominated by Indonesia, China, and Korea.

Equipment

   Court

   The area of play, as defined by the outer boundary lines.

   Net

   The net is made of fine cord, dark in colour and of an even thickness, with a mesh.

   Posts

   The posts are used to hold the net in place.

   Racket

   The instrument used by players to hit the shuttlecock.

   Shuttlecock

   A piece of cork covered in goat skin with 16 goose feathers attached to one end. It can be made from natural or synthetic materials.

Glossary

   Attacking clear: An offensive stroke hit deep into the opponent's court.

   Backhand: The stroke used to return balls hit to the left of a right-handed player and to the right of a left-handed player.

   Base position: The location in the centre of the court to which a singles player tries to return after each shot; also called "centre position".

   Baseline: The back boundary line at each end of the court, parallel to the net.

   Battledore and shuttlecock: A game played with a battledore and shuttlecock, the forerunner of modern badminton.

   Carry: An illegal stroke in which the shuttle is not hit, but caught and held on the racket before being released; also called a "sling" or "throw".

   Centre line: A line perpendicular to the net that separates the left and right service courts.

   Centre position: The location in the centre of the court to which a singles player tries to return after each shot; also called "base position".

   Clear: A shot hit deep into the opponent's court.

   Doubles: A game where two people play two people as teams.

   Doubles sideline: The side boundary of a doubles court.

   Drive: A fast and low shot that makes a horizontal flight over the net.

   Drop shot: A shot hit softly and with finesse to fall rapidly and close to the net in the opponent's court.

   Fault: A violation of the rules.

   Feint: Any deceptive movement that disconcerts an opponent before or during the serve; also called a "baulk".

   Flick: A quick wrist-and-forearm rotation used to surprise an opponent by changing an apparently soft shot into a faster passing shot.

   Forecourt: The front third of the court, between the net and the short service line.

   Forehand: The stroke used to return a ball hit to the right of a right-handed player and to the left of a left-handed player.

   Game: The part of a set completed when one player or side has scored enough points to win a single contest.

   Hairpin net shot: A shot made from below and very close to the net and causing the shuttle to rise, just clear the net, then drop sharply down the other side so that the flight of the shuttlecock resembles a hairpin.

   Halfcourt shot: A shot hit low and to midcourt, used effectively in doubles play against the up-and-back formation.

   High clear: A defensive shot hit deep into the opponent's court.

   Kill: A fast shot hit straight down into the opponent's court so that it cannot be returned.

   Let: A minor violation of the rules allowing a rally to be replayed.

   Long service line: The back line for the area into which a serve must land (also the back boundary line in singles play, but a line 83 centimetres inside the back boundary line in doubles play).

   Match: A series of games to determine a winner.

   Mid court: The middle third of the court.

   Net shot: A shot hit from the forecourt that just clears the net and drops sharply.

   Passing shot: A shot which passes the opposing player or team.

   Poona: A 19th-century game in India, named after the city of the same name, with similarities to lawn tennis.

   Push shot: A gentle shot played by pushing the shuttlecock with a little wrist motion.

   Rally: The exchange of shots that decides each point.

   Serve: The stroke used to put the shuttlecock into play at the start of each rally; also called a "service".

   Service: The stroke used to put the shuttlecock into play at the start of each rally; also called a "serve".

   Service court: The area into which a service must be delivered.

   Set: To choose to extend a game beyond its normal ending score if the score is tied with one point to go.

   Short service line: The front line of the service courts 1.98 metres from the net.

   Singles: A game where one person plays one person.

   Singles sideline: The side boundary of a singles court.

   Sling: An illegal stroke in which the shuttle is not hit, but caught and held on the racket before being released; also called a "carry" or "throw".

   Smash: A hard-hit overhead shot slammed straight down into the opponent's court.

   Throw: An illegal stroke in which the shuttle is not hit, but caught and held on the racket before being released; also called a "carry" or "sling".

   Wood shot: A legal shot in which the shuttle hits the frame of the racket.