BADMINTON HISTORY:

Brief History of Badminton

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The exact origin of the game, tracing back to ancient Greece and China more than 2000 years ago, is shrouded in mystery. It is believed that the game descended directly from the ancient game of battledore and shuttlecock. This was primarily a children's game although 19th century illustrations show adults playing it mostly in the garden and sometimes indoors. Battledore and shuttlecock has been described as a leisurely pastime whereby players count the number of hits and try to keep the shuttlecock up in the air as long as possible.
There is also some dispute about how modern day badminton started. One claim is that it started in England at Badminton House in Gloucestershire in the middle of the 19th century. A net, in the form of a string, was strung across to separate the players from two opposing teams. A rival claim has it that the game was first played by the British in India in the 1870s before it was brought back to Britain by returning army officers. The first attempt to establish the rules of the game was made around that time in Poona, India. But no formal rules were drawn up until the Badminton Association (of England) was formed in 1893.

The International Badminton Federation
The International Badminton Federation (IBF) was formed in 1934. The founder members were England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Holland, Denmark, New Zealand, Canada and France. Today, the IBF has more than 130 member countries from five continental confederations - the African Badminton Federation, the Asian Badminton Confederation, the European Badminton Union, the Oceania Badminton Confederation and the Pan-American Badminton Confederation.

The Thomas Cup
The first tournament was held at the Queen's Hall in Preston in February 1949. The late Sir George Thomas, founder president of the IBF, donated the Thomas Cup trophy . Malaya won the first competition when they defeated Denmark 8-1 in the final. Since then, the Cup has stayed with three Asian countries. Indonesia has won it a record 12 times, followed by Malaysia (five times) and China (four times). Denmark has reached the final on six occasions but has never won it. For the first 12 series until 1982, the Thomas Cup was held once every three years. Since 1984, the competition has been staged every two years. The playing format was also changed from the best of nine matches over two days to best of five over one day.

The Uber Cup
The first Uber Cup competition was held at Lytham St. Annes in Lancashire, Britain, in 1957 following calls to organise an international team championship for women similar to the Thomas Cup. The Uber Cup trophy was donated by Mrs H.S Uber. The United States won the first tournament when they defeated Denmark 6-1 in the final. The Uber Cup was held every three years until 1984. Since 1986, the tournament has been held every two years. Only four countries - the USA, Japan, China and Indonesia - have managed to win the Uber Cup.

International competitions
Badminton's introduction as a model sport at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics served proof of the game's progress and increasing popularity. Four events - the men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles and women's doubles - were held at Barcelona. At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the mixed doubles event was added. The World Junior Championships, now biennial affair, was also inaugurated in 1992 at Jakarta. The World Championships was started much earlier at Malmo in 1977. After the World Championships was subsequently held at Jakarta in 1980 and Copenhagen in 1983, it has also become a biennial affair since 1985 when it was held at Calgary. The World Cup, held every year, was started in 1981 while the present World Grand Prix Circuit - culminating with the World GP Final every year - began in 1983.

THOMAS CUP FINALS Year Winner beat Runner Up Scores Played at
1949 Malay vs Denmark 8-1 Preston
1952 Malaya vs USA 7-2 Singapore
1955 Malaya vs Denmark 8-1 Singapore
1958 Indonesia vs Malaya 6-3 Singapore
1961 Indonesia vs Thailand 6-3 Jakarta
1964 Indonesia vs Denmark 5-4 Tokyo
1967 Malaysia vs Indonesia 6-3 Jakarta
1970 Indonesia vs Malaysia 7-2 Kuala Lumpur
1973 Indonesia vs Denmark 8-1 Jakarta
1976 Indonesia vs Malaysia 9-0 Bangkok
1979 Indonesia vs Denmark 9-0 Jakarta
1982 China vs Indonesia 5-4 London
1984 Indonesia vs China 3-2 Kuala Lumpur
1986 China vs Indonesia 3-2 Jakarta
1988 China vs Malaysia 4-1 Kuala Lumpur
1990 China vs Malaysia 4-1 Tokyo
1992 Malaysia vs Indonesia 3-2 Kuala Lumpur
1994 Indonesia vs Malaysia 3-0 Jakarta
1996 Indonesia vs Denmark 5-0 Hongkong
1998 Indonesia vs Malaysia 3-2 Hongkong
2000 Indonesia vs China 3-0 Kuala Lumpur
2002 Indonesia vs Malaysia 3-2 Guangzhou
2004 China vs Denmark 3-1 Jakarta


UBER CUP FINALS Year Winner beat Runner Up Scores Played at
1957 USA vs Denmark 6-1 St Annes
1960 USA vs Denmark 5-2 Phil
1963 USA vs England 4-3 Wilming
1966 Japan vs USA 5-2 Wellington
1969 Japan vs Indonesia 6-1 Tokyo
1972 Japan vs Indonesia 6-1 Tokyo
1975 Indonesia vs Japan 5-2 Jakarta
1978 Japan vs Indonesia 5-2 Auckland
1981 Japan vs Indonesia 6-3 Tokyo
1984 China vs England 5-0 Kuala Lumpur
1986 China vs Indonesia 3-2 Jakarta
1988 China vs South Korea 5-0 Kuala Lumpur
1990 China vs South Korea 3-2 Tokyo
1992 China vs South Korea 3-2 Kuala Lumpur
1994 Indonesia vs China 3-2 Jakarta
1996 Indonesia vs China 4-1 Hongkong
1998 China vs Indonesia 4-1 Hongkong
2000 China vs Denmark 3-0 Kuala Lumpur
2002 China vs Korea 3-1 Guangzhou
2004 China vs Korea 3-1 Jakarta


OLYMPIC GAMES (Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004) Year Men's Singles Year Women's Singles
Gold Medalists Gold Medalists
1992 Alan Budi Kesuma (Indonesia) 1992 Susi Susanti (Indonesia)
1996 Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen (Denmark) 1996 Bang Soo-hyun (Korea)
2000 Xinpang Ji (China) 2000 Gong Zhichao (China)
2004 Taufik Hidayat (Indonesia 2004 Zhang Ning (China)
Silver Medalists Silver Medalists
1992 Ardy Wiranata (Indonesia) 1992 Bang Soo-hyun (Korea)
1996 Dong Jiong (China) 1996 Mia Audina (Indonesia)
2000 Hendrawan (Indonesia) 2000 Camilla Martin (Denmark)
2004 Shon Seung Mo (Korea) 2004 Mia Audina (Netherland)
Bronze Medalists Bronze Medalists
1992 Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen (Denmark) 1992 Huang Hua (China)
Hermawan Susanto (Indonesia) Tang Jiuhong (China)
1996 Rashid Sidek (Malaysia) 1996 Susi Susanti (Indonesia)
2000 Xuanze Xia (China) 2000 Zhaoying Ye (China)
2004 Soni Dewi Kuncoro (Indonesia) 2004 Zhou Mi (China)
4th Place 4th Place
1996 Heryanto Arbi (Indonesia) 1996 Kim Ji-hyun (Korea)
2000 Peter Gade (Denmark) 2000 Dai Yun (China)
2004 Boonsak Ponsana (Thailand) 2004 Gong Ruina (China)
Men's Doubles Women's Doubles
Gold Medalists Gold Medalists
1992 Park Joo-bong/Kim Moon-soo (Korea) 1992 Hwang Hye-young/Chung So-young (Korea)
1996 Ricky Subagia/Rexy Mainaky (Indonesia) 1996 Ge Fei/Gu Yun (China)
2000 Tony Gunawan / Candra Wijaya (Indonesia) 2000 Ge Fei/Gu Yun (China)
2004 Kim Dong Moon/Ha Tae Kwon (Korea) 2004 Zhang Jie Wien/Yang Wei (China)
Silver Medalists Silver Medalists
1992 Eddy Hartono/Rudy Gunawan (Indonesia) 1992 Guan Weizhen/Nong Qunhua (China)
1996 Cheah Soon Kit/Yap Kim Hock (Malaysia) 1996 Gil Young-ah/Jang Hye-ock (Korea)
2000 Dong Soo Lee / Yoo Yong Sung (Korea) 2000 Nanyan Huang / Wei Yang (China)
2004 Lee Dong Soo/Yoo Yong Sung (Korea) 2004 Huang Sui/Gao Ling (China)
Bronze Medalists Bronze Medalists
1992 Li Yongbo/Tian Bingyi (China) 1992 Gil Young-ah/Shim Eun-jung (Korea)
Jalani Sidek/Razil Sidek (Malaysia) Lin Yanfen/Yao Fen (China)
1996 Soo Beng Kiang/Tan Kim Her (Malaysia) 1996 Qin Yiyuan/Tang Yongshu (China)
2000 Tae Kwon Ha / Dong Moon Kim (Korea) 2000 Ling Gao / Yiyuan Qin (China)
2004 Eng Hian/Flandi Lempele (Indonesia) 2004 Ra Kyung Min/Lee Kyung Min (Korea)
4th Place 4th Place
1996 Denny Kantono/S. Antonius (Indonesia) 1996 Helene Kirkegaard/Rikke Olsen (Denmark)
2000 Tan Fook Choong / Wan Wah Lee (Malaysia) 2000 Jae Hee Chung / Kyung Min Ra (Korea)
2004 Jens Eriksen/Martin Lundgaard (Denmark) 2004 Zhao Ting Ting/Wei Yi Li (China)
Mixed Doubles Sydney 2000 Olympic, Medals Standings
Gold Medalists Country Gold Silver Bronze Total

1992 No event China 4 1 3 8

1996 Kim Dong-moon/Gil Young-ah (Korea) Indonesia 1 2 0 3

2000 Jun Zhang / Ling Gao (China) Korea 0 1 1 2

2004 Zhang Jun/Gao Ling (China) Denmark 0 1 0 1

Silver Medalists Britain 0 0 1 1

1992 No Event Athens 2004 Olympic, Medals Standings
1996 Park Joo-bong/Ra Kyung-min (Korea) China Gold Silver Bronze Total
3 1 1 5

2000 Tri Kusharyanto / Minarti Timur (Indonesia) Korea 1 2 1 4

2004 Nathan Robertson/Gail Emms (Great Britain) Indonesia 1 . 2 3

Bronze Medalists Netherland . 1 . 1

1992 No Event Great Britain . 1 . 1

1996 Lin Jianjun/Sun Man (China) Denmark . . 1 1

2000 Simon Archer / Joanne Goode (Great Britain)
2004 Jens Eriksen (Denmark)
Mette Schjoldager (Denmark)
4th Place
1992 No Event
1996 Chen Xingdong/Peng Xingyong (China)
2000 Michael Sogaard / Rikke Olsen (Denmark)
2004 Jonas Rasmussen (Denmark)
Rikke Olsen (Denmark)