Sunday, April 17, 2011

History of Badminton

The History of Badminton, it is believed, dates back to the 18th century. In the 1860s, some British officers in India who were stationed at 'Kirkee' near the city of 'Poona' (now known as Pune city) used to play a game which was very similar to badminton and the game was known as the 'Poona' game at that time.

These soldiers played with Battledores (Paddles) which was used to hit the shuttlecock and had also added a net in between the players. When these British soldiers returned back home at Gloustershire County in the 1870s, they continued to play this 'Poona' badminton game.

In 1873, the Duke of Beaufort held a lawn party in his country place, called Badminton. A game of Poona was played on that day and it became popular among the elite people of British society. The new party sport became known as "the Badminton game" and started to grow popular.

The year 1877, is of historic significance for badminton, as the 'Bath Badminton Club', the first badminton club ever, was formed and also the first official set of rules were developed.

History says that the game of badminton then further spread to several places in Europe as well as USA and became quite popular.

The International Badminton Federation (IBF) was formed in 1934 with 9 founding member countries. The IBF now has spread a lot more and has over 150 member countries.

Major international tournaments like the Thomas Cup which is for Men, and the Uber Cup which is for Women started to be held.

Badminton achieved yet another feather to it's cap in the pages of its history, when it was officially granted the Olympic status from the 1992 Barcelona Games.

Badminton is a fast growing popular sport, and it has now started to spread quite fast in countries such as India.
Hope that I have been able to give a fair overview of the History of Badminton through this article.

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