badminton

Badminton is a racquet sport played by two players (singles) or four players (doubles) on a rectangular court divided by a net. Players strike a shuttlecock with lightweight rackets, aiming to land the shuttle in the opponent’s court or to force an error. A rally ends when the shuttlecock lands out of bounds, fails to cross the net, or a player commits a fault.

Shuttles can be feathered or synthetic; rackets are typically carbon fiber and strung for control. The game emphasizes speed, precision, and endurance.

Court and equipment: the court is 13.4 meters long. Singles width is 5.18 meters; doubles width is 6.1 meters. The net height is 1.55 meters at center. Service areas define where serves must land; serving is underhand from behind the baseline and diagonally across the net. Points are scored using a rally point system.

Scoring and play: a match is the best of three games. A game is won by the side that first reaches 21 points with a margin of at least two; if tied at 20-20, play continues until a two-point lead is achieved, up to a maximum of 30. If 29-29, the next point wins the game. In doubles, service order and court boundaries differ slightly from singles but the objective remains to outplay the opponent and land the shuttle within the proper service and court areas.

Governance and history: the Badminton World Federation (BWF) oversees international competition; badminton has been part of the Olympics since 1992. Major events include the BWF World Championships, the Thomas and Uber Cups, and the Sudirman Cup. The sport originated in 19th-century England, with roots in earlier forms from India and Asia; the name derives from Badminton House in Gloucestershire.