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Pop quiz: Where did the sport of badminton originate?
If you said India, pat yourself on the back and give yourself a brownie point. Heck, give yourself a real brownie if you want to. You've earned it. Until last week, I had no idea badminton originated in India, and I am so impressed you did. But I am a terminally online little nerd, and like all terminally online little nerds, I dug up everything I could find online about the history of badminton and its connection to India over the weekend. Here's what I found:
From Poona To The World
The story of modern badminton dates back to the 1860s, when British army officers stationed in Pune (then Poona), India, encountered a local racquet game that involved a shuttlecock and a simple paddle known as a battledore. Fascinated by the game, they began to play it themselves, gradually introducing modifications such as the use of a net and formal rules. The British officers named the game 'Poona' after the city where they discovered it and took it with them to the United Kingdom upon their return.
In 1873, the Duke of Beaufort introduced it to the British elite at a garden party at his country estate, the Badminton House in Gloucestershire, England. The Duke called it the "badminton" game, and the name endured — eventually becoming synonymous with the sport itself. Although initially played as a recreational party game, badminton soon became extremely popular as a competitive club sport in England.
The Bath Badminton Club, the first dedicated badminton club in the world, was formed in 1877. A decade later, the club rewrote the informal rules of badminton first coined in India, and established the framework for modern-day badminton.
The Badminton Association of India (BAI) was established in 1899, six years after the Badminton Association of England (BAE). It is one of the oldest badminton governing bodies in the world.
A Brief History Of Modern Indian Badminton
The International Badminton Federation (IBF) was founded in 1934 as the global governing body for badminton. India became a member in 1936, marking its early involvement in the international badminton community. The organization was later renamed the Badminton World Federation (BWF), under which it continues to oversee the sport worldwide.
Badminton made its Olympic debut at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Games, featuring four events: men's singles, men's doubles, women's singles, and women's doubles. The mixed doubles category was later introduced at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, completing the sport's current Olympic lineup.
Deepankar Bhattacharya and U Vimal Kumar became the first male shuttlers to represent India at the Olympics in 1992, while Madhumita Bisht was India's only female representative at the event.
India has produced many world-class badminton players such as Prakash Padukone, the first Indian to win the prestigious All England Open Badminton Championships in 1980 and reach No. 1 in the men's badminton world rankings, as well as India's first Commonwealth Games gold medallist in badminton, winning the men's singles event in 1978; Padukone's protege Pullela Gopichand; Gopichand's star pupil and Olympic bronze medalist Saina Nehwal, the only Indian woman to be ranked No. 1 in the world; and P.V. Sindhu, the first Indian-ever to win a gold medal at the BWF World Championships. Sindhu is also the first Indian woman to win two medals at the Olympics: Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. Like Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu was also mentored by Gopichand.
Since Gopichand's retirement, Kidambi Srikanth has emerged as India's leading male badminton player. With an impressive tally of six BWF Superseries titles and three BWF Grand Prix wins, Srikanth reached the pinnacle of the sport when he was ranked World No. 1 in 2018 — making him the first Indian male shuttler to achieve this feat since Prakash Padukone.
In 2021, Srikanth made history by becoming the first Indian man to win a silver medal at the BWF World Championships. He was also a key member of the team that clinched the Thomas Cup title in 2022, marking a landmark victory in India's badminton history.
Today, promising young players like Ayush Shetty, Rithvik Sanjeevi, Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramra, Anmol Kharb, and Anupama Upadhyaya are carrying forward India's badminton legacy.
