Badminton service rules: Doubles

The doubles service rules in badminton are slightly more complicated in the BWF’s laws.

The basic service rules remains the same – i.e. the player who serves first shall do so from the
right side of the service court and continue to do so each time after gathering an even number of
points during a game while a serve after winning an odd number of points shall come from the
left service court.

The receiver must stand on the alternate service court and the pair who wins the point shall
become the server for the subsequent point.

The server and receiver have to stand on diagonally opposite sides of the badminton
court. (2013 Getty Images)
The right to serve in a badminton doubles game shall be as follows:

 From the initial server who started the game from the right service court
 To the partner of the initial receiver
 To the partner of the initial server
 To the initial receiver
 Back to the initial server and so on.

No player on the receiving side shall receive two consecutive services in the same game.

If any player has served or received out of turn or served or received from the wrong side of the
court, it is deemed a service court error and it is immediately corrected.
The players on either side can take up any positions on their side of the court as long as they do
not impede the sight of the server or receiver.

The scoring system dictates that a point is scored if the serving side or the receiving side wins the
rally. A rally is defined as a series of shots exchanged between either team until the shuttlecock
touches the ground, hits the net, or goes out of bounds of the court.

The first side to reach 21 points, with a two-point difference, wins the game and a match consists
of three games.

The sides are required to change sides after each game, and any player from the winning side can
serve in the next game, and similarly, any player from the losing side can receive in the next
game.