Badminton History: How did it all begin?

The History of Badminton:
Badminton began in India as a game and back then it was called Poona. Poona was a competitive sport that British Army officers learned and brought back to England. It was developed from a children's game called shuttlecock and battledore.

The object of the game was to see how long a group of people could hit and "rally" the shuttlecock with a battledore or racket. The game was originally played without a net. However, nobody really plays badminton nowadays without a net.

The shuttlecock was often called before as a "bird", simply because it is made out of feathers. Today, shuttlecocks are made out different materials. There are plastic and feather shuttlecocks. However, experts say that the best shuttlecocks are made out of feathers from a goose's left wing.

Even before battledore and shuttlecock evolved, similar sports were being played throughout the world. In 5th century China, Ti Jian zi was played by kicking a shuttle into the air. In the Philippines Ti Jian zi was also known as "Sipa" which is Tagalog for kick. By the 1600s, people in Europe were playing Jeu de Volant, a game that used a racket rather than feet to hit the shuttle.

Before, when British officers were stationed in India, they encountered Poona, a game that was a fast-paced competitive sport at that time. These officers, realizing that Poona was an exciting yet challenging game then took the equipment for Poona back to England in the early 1870s.

It was the Duke of Beaufort who officially introduced the game to England. In 1873, his invited guests at a lawn party which was held in his estate, Badminton, played a game of Poona. The game became such a hit and people started calling the game "Badminton".

Badminton clubs were then started in England. By 1893, Badminton became so popular that 14 clubs joined to form the Badminton Association. More countries then started their own federations. And, the Badminton Association was renamed to the Badminton Association of England. This group standardized the rules of the sport and they also started the earliest and most prestigious badminton tournament, the All-England Badminton Championships.

Many more tournaments have taken place after that and many more Badminton Federations were formed.

An International Body

The Badminton Association made a proposal regarding the establishment of the International Badminton Federation (IBF), which would be responsible for the laws and the control of all aspects of the game world-wide.

The Badminton Association initiated a meeting and invited representatives from Canada, Denmark, England, France, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales.

The meeting was held at 10:30am on Thursday, 5th of July, 1934 at a Conference Room in Centre Block, Bush House in London.

Since then, the IBF has expanded to 159 other countries in the world. On the 24th of September, 2006 another meeting was held in Madrid. The IBF was then renamed to Badminton World Federation.