London Preview: Badminton (and More Disparity?)

What/Where/When: Badminton, Wembley Arena, July 25-Aug 11

I wonder if the British soldiers who modified an English game ever thought their new sport would someday be part of the largest sporting event in the world? And eventually be held in London? Probably not. I expect they’d say instead, “Poppycock Shuttlecock!”

The rules for badminton are fairly straightforward. If you’ve ever played tennis, then that helps all the more. While a ball can bounce in tennis, the shuttlecock cannot touch the floor. Players only stand in the service area (single). There aren’t any sets. One match goes to 21 with a win by two points. If that doesn’t happen, then a one-point win is allowed when the match reaches 30 points. The game also varies a bit with faults and lets, but for the most part, it’s fairly similar.

Growing up, I never got the hang of badminton and took to tennis instead. Badminton isn’t easy. The shuttlecock, whether it’s made with plastic or feathers, doesn’t have the same weight as a tennis ball, and neither does the racket. So the sport I tried in my backyard gave me problems. With that said, I respect the difficulty of competitive badminton. But are there enough good players from around the world to make it an Olympic sport?

The 2012 Olympics will feature about 86 men and 86 women from about 25 countries. Yet world rankings and past Olympics (since 1992, when badminton became an Olympic sport) show a sport that is clearly popular and dominated by Asian countries. Of the 76 Olympic medals awarded in badminton, only 10% (seven medals) have been won by a non-Asian country. Of those seven medals, only one was gold. Kudos to Denmark for that one!

Sure, badminton is played and known by people worldwide, but is there truly an adequate level of elite athletes worldwide? World Rankings show that only an average of four (4) non-Asian countries are represented in the top 20. And while the same argument can be (and has been) made with sports like the marathon (dominated by Africa), then why are sports like women’s softball and women’s hockey dismissed as not being “global” enough? I just wish I could see some consistency. If this was available, then I’d have no problem with this sport being part of the Olympic Games.

So what are my predictions for the 2012 Olympic Badminton medals? Risky, I know, but I”m going to say China dominates, with a possible medal from Malaysia. Great Britain is placing a lot of hope on its mixed doubles team ofAdcock and Bankier. If these two could medal, then maybe that could help bring new blood into the top rankings over the next few years?