badminton

Racket game similar to lawn tennis but played on a smaller court and with a shuttlecock (a half sphere of cork or plastic with a feather or nylon skirt) instead of a ball. The object of the game is to prevent the opponent from being able to return the shuttlecock.

Badminton is played by two or four players. The court measures 6.1 m/20 ft by 13.4 m/44 ft. A net, 0.8 m/2.5 ft deep, is stretched across the middle of the court and at a height of 1.52 m/5 ft above the ground to the top of the net. The shuttlecock must be volleyed. Only the server can win points.

The sport is named after Badminton House, the seat of the Duke of Beaufort, where the game was played in the 19th century. The sport's governing body is the International Badminton Federation, founded in 1934. The major tournaments are held on indoor courts; they include the Thomas Cup, an international team championship for men, first held in 1949, and the Uber Cup, a women's international team competition, first held in 1957. The invention of a cheap and durable synthetic shuttlecock in 1952 gave the game a wider appeal, though synthetic shuttlecocks are not accepted in top-level badminton games.