Badminton

Badminton is a fast game played with racket and a shuttlecock on a wood, dirt, or grass court. The court is somewhat like tennis court, but smaller. The shuttlecock, often called simply the shuttle, or "bird," is hit back and forth over a net 5 feet high. It must be returned before it strikes the court. The game can be played by two persons (singles) or four person (doubles). It is a very adapted game and can be played both indoor and outdoors. Offical tournaments are played indoors. The outdoors game more suitable for family enjoyment at home.
Badminton develop from Battledore and Shuttlecock, an ancient game that was popular with children. There are several explanation of how the modern game began; one is that about year 1870 English army offivers brought a version of it to England from India, where it was called Poona. The new game took its name from the Duke of Beaufort’s estate, Badminton, where the game was probably played indoors for the first time. Badminton became popular in England, and in the 1890’s the Badminton Asscociation was formed. In 1934 the International Badminton Federation was organized.
There are two international badminton championships; the Thomas Cup competition for men, which began 1948, and the Uber Cup for women, which began in 1957. Malaysia and Indonesia have dominated the men’s event, and the United State and Denmark the woment’s competition.