1. Santos, Louise Yzabelle F. 7 – Byron
In the 5th century BC, the people in china then played a game called tijianzi. A direct
translation from this word 'tijianzi' is kicking the shuttle. As the name suggest, the
objective of the game is to keep the shuttle from hitting the ground without using hand.
Whether this sport has anything to do with the History of Badminton is up for debate.
It was however the first game that uses a Shuttle.
About five centuries later, a game named Battledore and Shuttlecockwas played in
China, Japan, India and Greece. This is a game where you use the Battledore (a paddle)
to hit the Shuttlecock back and forth. By the 16th century, it has become a popular game
among children in England. In Europe this game was known as jeu de volant to them.
In the 1860s, a game named Poona was played in India. This game is much like the
Battledore and Shuttlecock but with an added net. The British army learned this game
in India and took the equipments back to England during the 1870s.
In 1873, the Duke of Beaufort held a lawn party in his country place, Badminton. A
game of Poona was played on that day and became popular among the British society's
elite. The new party sport became known as "the Badminton game". In 1877, the Bath
Badminton Club was formed and developed the first official set of rules.
The origins of the game of badminton date back at least 2,000 years to the game of
battledore and shuttlecock played in ancient Greece, China, and India.
A very long history for one of the Olympics newest sports! Badminton took its name
from Badminton House in Gloucestershire, the ancestral home of the Duke of Beaufort,
where the sport was played in the last century. Gloucestershire is now the base for the
International Badminton Federation.
The IBF was formed in 1934 with nine members: Canada, Denmark, France,
Netherlands, England, New Zealand, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The United States
joined four years later. Membership increased steadily over the next few years with a
surge in new members after the Olympic Games debut at Barcelona.

2. The first big IBF tournament was the Thomas Cup (men’s world team championships) in
1948. Since then, the number of world events has increased to seven, with the addition
of the Uber Cup (ladies’ team), World Championships, Sudirman Cup (mixed team),
World Juniors, World Grand Prix Finals, and the World Cup.
The World Cup invitational event started in 1981 and is organized by the International
Management Group (IMG). The World Cup series is due to end in 1997, and the IBF is
considering organizing exhibition matches featuring the world’s top players to replace
the World Cup.
For the recent Thomas and Uber Cups in Hong Kong, the sale of commercial and
television rights was a multimillion dollar contract. And it’s not just in Asia. In Europe
also, there’s a growing number of companies bidding for rights. Television companies
worldwide are already buying exclusive rights to the 1997 World Championships to be
held in Glasgow, Scotland.
A turning point in badminton’s growth was the $20 million tripartite contract in 1994
for sponsorship of the World Grand Prix Finals. Under the terms of the deal between
the IBF, IMG, and STAR TV, STAR injects the monies into the promotion and
development of badminton. In return, STAR gains total exclusivity for the exploitation
of the commercial and television rights to the WGP Finals. ―The deal was good for both
main parties,‖ said David Shaw, IBF’s executive director, who was brought into the
organization with a brief to grow the sport. ―We needed a strong partner in television,
and the broadcaster had identified badminton as a vehicle which would attract
audiences across Asia to its prime sports channel.‖
The next phase in the rise and rise of international badminton has been to retake the
USA. The U.S. was an early member of the IBF and initially one of the most successful.
When the Uber Cup was introduced in 1956, Americans won the first three events. But
then interest waned.
Badminton is a well-liked and familiar sport in the USA but, predominantly, is usually
played as a fun game in the backyard or on the beach. We know that once Americans see
the other badminton—international badminton, the world’s fastest racket sport—they
will want to see and play more. The Atlanta Olympics started to raise the sport’s profile
in the U.S. The event was a sell-out and became one of the ―must-see‖ sports. Ex-
President Jimmy Carter, Chelsea Clinton, Paul Newman, and Princess Anne were among
the celebrities who came to watch. David Broder of the Washington Post reported
―seeing one of the supreme athletic spectacles of my life.‖

3. The year 1996 was a landmark in USA badminton. It’s not only the Atlanta Olympic
Games that started to generate tremendous interest in the U.S. market. In December
1995, the IBF introduced a new concept tournament in California, the Hong Ta Shan
Cup, a men’s invitation tournament with the best players and big prize money. There are
now plans to add a women’s event and to increase the prize money. The Hong Ta Shan
Group has gone on to sponsor the U.S. Open, increasing the prize money to $200,000.
This makes the event the most valuable World Grand Prix event in the series and gives it
six-star status.
The degree of change is increasing. Badminton’s debut as an Olympic Games sport has
manifestly boosted interest internationally. The STAR TV agreement has increased the
sport’s coverage dramatically. Sponsors and television companies are being attracted to a
sport which gives them access to the Asian economies. And spectators are increasingly
attracted to the exciting mix of angles, tactics, touch, reaction, and fitness that would
exhaust a squash champion.
URL: http://www.badminton-information.com/history-of-badminton.html (1st)
URL: http://www.athleticscholarships.net/history-of-badminton.htm (2nd)