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Early Origins
The sport of badminton has its origins in ancient civilisations in Europe and Asia. The ancient game known as battledore (bat or paddle) and shuttlecock probably originated more than 2000 years ago. -
Period: 100 to
Badminton Timeline
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Early Modern Origins
In the 1600s Battledore and Shuttlecock was an upper class pastime in England and many European countries. Battledore and Shuttlecock was simply two people hitting a shuttlecock backwards and forwards with a simple bat as many times as they could without allowing it to hit the ground. -
"Poon"
A contemporary form of badminton - a game called ‘Poon’, was played in India in the 1800s where a net was introduced and players hit the shuttlecock across the net. British officers in the mid 1800’s took this game back to England and it was introduced as a game for the guests of the Duke of Beaufort at his stately home ‘Badminton’ in Gloucestershire, England where it became popular. -
Bath Badminton Club writes first rules
The rules of the game, as first played, were naturally unwritten, purely experimental, and very local, especially as regards the shape and dimensions of the courts. Racket scoring was from the first adopted, and is still the rule of the game, though it is thought by some that tennis scoring would be an improvement, as it would probably make the handicapping of very unequal players easier that at present -
First Open Badminton Tournament was held
In March 1898, the first Open Tournament was held at Guildford the first 'All England' Championships were held the following year. -
IBF Formed (International Badminton Federation)
Then in 1934, the International Badminton Federation was formed, with the initial members including England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Denmark, Holland, Canada, New Zealand and France, with India joining as an affiliate in 1936. -
Thomas Cup
The first major IBF tournament was the Thomas Cup (world men's team championships) in 1948. Since then, the number of world events has increased with the addition of the Uber Cup (women’s team), World Championships (individual events), Sudirman Cup (mixed team), World Junior Championships and the World Grand Prix Finals. -
Commonwealth Games
Badminton was introduced as a Commonwealth Games program sport in Kingston Jamaica in 1966 and has been part of every Commonwealth Games program since then. Initially all five disciplines were included – singles (men, women), doubles (men, women) and mixed doubles with the Teams Event included in the program in later Commonwealth Games. -
Olympic Demonstration Sport
Badminton is a relatively new Olympic Games sport. After being a demonstration sport in Munich in 1972, badminton became an Olympic sport in Barcelona in 1992 with the singles and doubles disciplines introduced for the first time in the Olympic Games. -
Olympic Sport
Badminton is a relatively new Olympic Games sport. After being a demonstration sport in Munich in 1972, badminton became an Olympic sport in Barcelona in 1992 with the singles and doubles disciplines introduced for the first time in the Olympic Games. In Atlanta in 1996, a mixed doubles event was included and this is the only mixed doubles event in all of the Olympic sports. The following countries have won medals in badminton at an Olympic Games since its introduction in 1992 - China, Denmark