Badminton

A shuttlecock, two racquets and a partner to play with, and you are all set to play badminton. Badminton is one of the greatest outdoor sport that does not require much equipment and can be enjoyed by people of all age groups. It is not so difficult to play technically, but professional badminton is comparatively tougher.

However, it should be known that, at a professional front, badminton demands many qualities from the players: speed, strength, agility, stamina, skills, accuracy, smartness, mental power and team work. Great techniques and physical fitness may not be enough to win a badminton game; a successful player must play hard and smart. Using quick thinking to adapt his/her play to the opponents tactics and weaknesses and manipulate the moves in no time. Using varying speed and position and deceptive plays to get an upper hand over the opponent’s mind as well and game. In the court, the players are left to their self and no sort of help is available from anyone, until and unless it is a doubles game. The player must maintain high concentration, patience, endurance, and of course his grip to the racket!

If people say that badminton is a safest game to play outdoor then it’s just nothing more than a misconception! It may be safer as compared to contact sports such as football and boxing but truly in every sense badminton demands all sorts of dedication and fearless go at the shuttlecock.  “It’s been reported in a badminton injury questionnaire (BIQ) in which 230 and 31 players, ranging from club players to international champions, completed the survey which showed an injury incidence rate of .09 and .14 injuries per person for male and female badminton players”. There are few acute injures. For example: if the injury is because of the reason that your doubles teammate runs into you by accident.

In spite of losing out to lucrative games like Cricket, Badminton in India is still a widely followed sport. In a lighter vein, it can be understood that even sporadic following of the game in India is pre-eminent in terms of numbers, may be due to its population. It’s not just backyard game in India, it has its own staunch place in the arena.

In contrast, serious badminton is also played in India under the watchful guidance and control of the badminton authority of India. Regional and national tournaments are periodically conducted and the ineffable talents in the country are unraveled and unveiled every now and then.

The main reason for badminton not able to get a foothold in India as a household sport is due to its indoor nature. Most of the Indians do not have the money or time to have an indoor court of their own or subscribing to a club. Even clubs have outdoor badminton courts in some areas, making the play very difficult in windy conditions. The main consent yet prevailing is that due to the uncertain rewarding nature of sports, parents generally give more importance to the academic achievement of their kids in their formative years.

The efforts of former Indian legends like Prakash Padukone, the situation has remarkably changed towards a brighter direction for Indian badminton. Touch Play is the biography of Prakash Padukone. This is the first book on Indian badminton, and is precisely only the second biography of any badminton player and it’s a must read book and its really worth a king’s ransom.

Prakash Padukone had won the Danish and Swedish opens and the All England Championships in his playing days, besides winning a commonwealth gold medal. Pullela Gopichand also came up as an asset to Indian badminton by winning All England Badminton Title and four medals at 1998 Commonwealth games.

In recent times, the Indian Khel Ratna Award winner Saina Nehwal  has done ineffable contribution to the Indian Badminton. Saina is the first Indian woman to reach the singles quarterfinals at the Olympics and the first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton Championships. She created history on June 21, 2009, becoming the first Indian to win a Super Series tournament.

With sheer dedication and quick reflexes by inheritance, Indians would surely have a stauncher grip to peak position in arena of badminton.

Tags: Badminton, Indian Badminton, Prakash Padukone, Pullela Gopichand, Racquets, Saina Nehwal, Shuttlecock, Sport