History of Badminton

To understand the History of Badminton, first you need to understand various games that were played long before Badminton. Let travel back to centuries ago where it all began...

​

In the 5th century BC, the people in china then played a game called ti jian zi.  A direct translation from this word 'ti jian zi' 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 Shuttlecock was 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 International Badminton Federation (IBF) was formed in 1934 with 9 founding members.

- England        - Ireland            - Scotland

- Wales           - Denmark         - Holland

- Canada        - New Zealand   - France

​

Since then, major international tournaments like the Thomas Cup (Men) and Uber Cup (Women) were held. Badminton was officially granted Olympic status in the 1992  Barcelona Games. From 9 founding members, IBF now have over 150 member  countries.