Overview
Badminton is one of the world's fastest racket sports. It emerged in nineteenth-century England, inspired by older games, and took its name from Badminton House — the British estate that hosted one of its earliest organised matches. The sport joined the Olympic programme at Barcelona 1992, having appeared as a demonstration sport at Munich 1972.
Badminton is played on a court measuring 13.4×6.1m for doubles and 13.4×5.18m for singles, divided by a net 1.55m high. Players use lightweight rackets and a feathered shuttlecock, competing to land the shuttle in the opponent's court. Matches are played to the best of three games, with each game won by the first player to reach 21 points, with a two-point margin required.
The Olympic programme includes five events: men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles. The sport is dominated by Asian players, particularly from China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and South Korea, with Denmark its most prominent European force. Badminton is renowned for the speed of the shuttle, which exceeds 400 km/h on the strongest attacking shots — making it, by measurement, the fastest projectile in any racket sport.
Featured News
National Badminton teams begin training Camp in Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR (QNA) - The national badminton teams have started a preparatory external camp in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The camp age-group categories are Under 11, Under 13, Under 15 and Under 17 for both boys and girls, and will last until July 23. The boys' Under 15 team includes Ahmed Al Maliki, Saad Al Maliki and Hamad Al Maliki. Khalifa Al Maliki participates in the boys' Under 17 team. The girls' Under 15 team includes Noura Al Hajri and Noor Abel, while Asma Abel participates in the girls' Under 11 team, and Sondos Abel participates in the Under 13 team. The badminton teams are accompanied by coaches Mohammed Shawwal and Ahmed Saeed Lutfi, in addition to the administrator Amna Abdelrahman. Head of the national teams committee of the Qatar Tennis, Squash and Badminton Federation Khalid Al Khulaifi said in a statement that the external camps are within the federation's agenda and seek to maintain the technical and physical level of male and female players as well as prepare well for the new sports season. Al Khulaifi noted that the Malaysia camp is within the framework of preparing for the Arab Badminton Championship for U 17 and U 15 teams in August, by improving the level of performance and readiness of the players, stressing that the federation spares no effort in supporting male and female players as a priority in the strategy to develop Qatari teams in various sports.
