HISTORY OF BADMINTON

A badminton-like game was known in ancient Greece and Egypt - a game called
battledore and shuttlecock - in which two players hit a feathered shuttlecock back and
forth with tiny rackets.

The game was played in India during the 18th Century, at which time it was called
"Poona" . In the 1860s it was adopted by British Army officers stationed in India. The
officers took the game back to England, where it became a success at a party given by
the Duke of Beaufort in 1873 at his estate called "Badminton" in Gloucestershire. He
introduced the sport at his country estate, Badminton, from which the game derives its
name.

The Duke of Beaufort Is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created by Charles II
in 1682 for Henry Somerset (the 1st holder of Duke of Beaufort)

A variation of Badminton which has been developed only recently, Speed Badminton
or Speedminton, is played without a net, and is gaining popularity, especially in
Germany.

Badminton’s first appearance at the Olympic Games came as a demonstration sport in

1972 at Munich Germany. It became a medal event at Barcelona Olympics in 1992.

Badminton began to truly capture the attention of the world in 1972. Viewers were
at first treated to singles ( one-on-one ) matches in 1972 before the state of games
was soon expanded to feature singles and doubles matches for both men and
women in 1992. It was added as an official sport at the 1992 Olympic Games .
Mixed doubles were added to the Olympic Games in 1996 .

Only 5 countries have won gold medals at the Olympics since Badminton was
introduced in 1992, They are China, Indonesia, Korea, England and Denmark