It's a fact that would surprise many people, but badminton is the world's fastest racquet sport.

During world-class matches, the shuttlecock is belted back and forth over the net at speeds that would make even a touring car champion go weak at the knees.

Speeds of up to 260 kilometres an hour have been recorded, making agility and super-quick reflexes essential.

Badminton became an Olympic sport in Barcelona in 1992, and had an immediate impact, returning some of the highest global television ratings of any sport.

The reason for this is simple - it is huge in Asia. This popularity is reflected in results.

Since the Barcelona Games, Asian nations have won all but one of the gold medals on offer, and 69 of the 75 medals over the last five Olympics.

The hosts on this occasion will not achieve the success enjoyed by China who won the men's and women's singles events and the women's doubles.

The other gold medals were won by Indonesia (men's doubles) and South Korea (mixed).

It is perhaps not surprising that the Asian nations are so fanatical about their badminton, given that at least one thread leading to the game's origin began in China.

The very earliest versions of the game involved kicking rather than hitting the shuttlecock.

By the mid 19th century a game more closely resembling badminton - using rackets - had evolved in India.

The English army took to the game in India, registering its rules in the late 1800s. The sport was brought to England by its colonial forces in India, and it was here that badminton was given the name it carries today.
The Duke of Beauford introduced the game to English society at his estate - Badminton House - better known these days for annually hosting one of the most famous equestrian three-day events.

England formed the first national badminton association in 1893 and the International Badminton Federation (IBF) followed in 1934. Australia was not a foundation member but joined the federation in its infancy.


There are five Badminton events: Men's singles, men's doubles, women's singles, women's doubles and mixed doubles.

All events begin with a preliminary stage where competitors are divided into groups and each player and doubles pair will play everyone else in their group.

The best performing singles and doubles pairs from this stage will qualify for the knockout stage of the competition - comprising of 16 competitors in each Singles event and eight pairs in the Doubles events.


Malyasia's Lee Chong Wei is the top-ranked player in the world and is a real threat to break the Chinese stranglehold of the main event.

He won silver in Beijing but has accumulated the most world rankings points of late.

Chinese triumvirate Dan Lin, Long Chen and recent Australian Open champion and 2008 Olympic bronze medallist Chen Jin will have something to say about this however.

Reigning Olympic champion Lin Dan and Long Chen finished one-two in the 2011 world superseries final.

The only non-Asian in the top ten is Dane Peter Hoeg Gade who has taken up the mantle of compatriot Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen - the only badminton player to break the

Asian stranglehold on Olympic titles, winning the men's singles title in Atlanta.

Normal order was restored in Sydney, however, as China and Indonesia swept all five gold medals, including all three doubles events - men's, women's and mixed and little has changed since.

None of the three medallists from 2008 will feature in the women's competition.

Wang Yihan will go into the event as the favourite having been ranked as the world number one for most of the last three years and the reigning world super series finals winner.

Compatriots and former world number ones Wang Xin and Wang Shixian are likely to be her closest competitors.

The 2008 men's doubles silver medallists Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng go into the Olympics with a point to prove.

Korean duo Jung Jae Sung and Lee Yong Dae will not be easy to beat though.

It is difficult to see anyone beating China in the women's doubles where the teams of Wang Xiali and Yu Yang and Tian Qing and Zhao Yuniel look in a different class to the rest of the field.

The mixed doubles may not be quite so straight forward as although China boasts the two top-ranked teams in Zhang Nan and Zhao Yuniel and Xu Chen and Ma Jin, Indonesia has high hopes for Tontowi Ahmand and Liliyana Natsir and Denmark has two live medal hopes in the teams of Joachim Nielsen/Christinna Pedersen and Thomas Laybourn/Kamilla Juhl.

The team

Australia has qualified five athletes for London.

Ross Smyth and Glenn Warfe will compete in their second Olympic Games in the men's doubles, after the pair came ninth in Beijing four years ago.

Smyth, 27, and Warfe, 28, also made it to the last 16 at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010.

Australia will have a team in the women's doubles, with Malaysian-born Renuga Veeran, 26, and Leanne Choo, 21, hoping to follow up their performance at the Delhi Commonwealth Games where they came fifth in doubles.

Finally, 21-year-old Victoria Na will play in the women's singles tournament.


Ross Smith - Men's Doubles

Glenn Warfe - Men's Doubles

Leanne Choo - Women's Doubles

Renuga Veeran - Women's Doubles

Victoria Na - Women's Singles

The basics

Players also swap ends in a third game when the score reaches eight.

The match begins with a toss of a coin, the winner choosing whether to serve or receive, or which side of the court to begin on.

When serving, the shuttlecock must be struck below the server's waist with the racket head below the server's hand, and the server must have both feet on the ground.

The court is divided into four service courts. The server must hit the shuttlecock so it falls within the receiver's service court, which is diagonally opposite his or her own.

In singles, the server must stand in the right-hand court if his/her score is nil or an even number, and the left-hand court if his/her score is an odd number.

In doubles, the player on each team who serves first must begin in the right-hand service court.

For each point won, the server swaps sides. When the pair loses a rally, the server's partner takes over serving, and the pattern continues until another rally is lost, at which point the right to serve passes to the opposition.

Once the shuttle is in play, each side is allowed to hit it only once and it must be volleyed.

A player or pair loses a point if the shuttle is hit into the net or out of play, or if it commits a fault by touching the net, hitting the shuttle before it comes over the net or being hit by the shuttle.

A fault is also recorded if a serving player swings and misses or if a player deliberately distracts an opponent.

If a shuttle lands on a boundary line it is considered in. A shuttle is allowed to hit the net, as long as it lands in the correct court.

A let is called, and the rally is replayed, if a shuttle is caught in the net, unless this occurs on a serve, in which case it is ruled a fault.

The shuttlecock, which is made from a cork base with goose feathers attached to it, can vary in length from 64 to 70 millimetres and weigh between 4.74 and 5.5 grams.

Racquets can be up to 68 centimetres long and 23cm wide with a head up to 29cm long.

The match is controlled by a chair umpire who sits at the sideline above the net. He or she is assisted by the service judge who sits at ground level.


Wembley Arena, London