A badminton-like game was known in ancient Greece and Egypt - a game called battledore and shuttlecock - in which two players hit a feathered shuttlecock back and forth with tiny rackets.
The game was played in India during the 18th Century, at which time it was called "Poona" . In the 1860s it was adopted by British Army officers stationed in India. The officers took the game back to England, where it became a success at a party given by the Duke of Beaufort in 1873 at his estate called "Badminton" in Gloucestershire.
A variation of Badminton which has been developed only recently, Speed Badminton or Speedminton, is played without a net, and is gaining popularity, especially in Germany.
Related Pages
- History of Sports
- About Speed Badminton
- Back to Badminton home