. Hi BCers, I have always wanted to talk about Badminton around the World. Hope to get BCers' contributions to this thread (from longtime participants in our beloved Badminton). .
It was in London in 1934 that Badminton was put on an international basis . I shall start with our Badminton Associations first. It was in London in 1934 that Badminton was put on an international basis. On 5-July-1934, at the invitation of the Badminton Association - formed at Southsea in 1893 - the inaugural meeting was held. Mr A.D. Prebble in the chair. The following 9 countries were represented; * Canada * Denmark * England * France * Ireland * Netherlands * New Zealand * Scotland * Wales These 9 countries formed the International Badminton Federation (IBF) and adopted the set of rules proposed by the Badminton Association. The first President was Sir George Thomas. .
Nations began to join IBF . Other nations began to join the IBF. * India (1935) * Australia (1936) * Malaya (1937) * USA (1938) .
34 National Associations joined IBF as members in 1958 . By 1958, 34 National Associations joined IBF as members. There were also 7 temporary associate members at that time. .
Australian Badminton Association . Australian Badminton Association Australian Badminton Association was founded in 1935 and elected to IBF in 1936. One of our best and most popular players, Don Murray, national champion 1953-54, was seen in England in the 1954-55 season. Later, our best were ladies were June Bevan and J.S.Russell. It was great that I have met up with June Bevan. .
Belgian Badminton Association . Belgian Badminton Association Belgian Badminton Association was founded in 1947 and elected to IBF in 1950. The centres were in Brussels and Ghent. Louvain was the administrative centre. in 1956, there were 8 tournaments held in Belgium. .
British West Indies . British West Indies Badminton started in Jamaica in a Mandeville school, 65 miles from the capital, Kingston. The first tournaments were held st Sabina Park, Kingston. The first All-Jamaica Championships were held at St. Andrews Club in 1953. The Singles title was won by J.B. Leslie (former Scottish international who made 11 appearances for Scotland between 1947-1952). The Delvin sisters from the USA played exhibition matches there in 1957. Their most talented players at those times were Ronnie Nasralla and Eddie Ziadie. Their association joined IBF in 1954. .
Canada . Canada Founded in 1921, Canada was a founder-member of IBF (in 1934). Their first talented player at that time was probably Jack Purcell. It was Mrs Walton Jnr who surprised most of us when winning the All-England Championships in 1939. .
Denmark . Denmark The Dansk Badminton Forbund was founded in 1930. They were also a founding-member of the IBF. There were 6 affiliated provisional associations, the Kobenhavns Badminton Kreds being the largest. At that time, their well-known clubs were the Amager, Kobehavn, Shovshoved, Gentrofte, Valby and Charlottenlond Klubs. Sir George Thomas and Betty Uber (from England) went over to Denmark and found that the Scandinavians enormously enthusiastic in Badminton. Madsen was the first of their great players. He was followed by Conny Jepsen, Poul Holm, Jorn Skaarup, J. Hammergaard Hansen and Finn Kobbero. Their impressive lady players were Kirsten Thorndahl, Marie Ussing, Aase Jacobsen and Tonny Ahm (nee Olsen). During World War 2, the Germans permitted Badminton to be played in Denmark and it became the Danish national sport. .
France . France Although France Was a founder member, the game grew rather slowly there. Henri Pelizza, a Tennis player, was their leading leading player in the 1950's. Their international Open Championship, first held in the the 1908-09 season, has a formidable roll of champions ranging from Sir George Thomas, Miss Radeglia to Ong Poh Lim. The game grew most in the Normandy districts, with Paris providing 2 main centres. .
Next would be Germany . Next would be Germany. But I am running out of time at the moment. I shall continue later. .
Germany . Germany The Deutscher Badminton Verbund was founded and elected to IBF in 1953. There were 8 State Associations affiliated, with their HQ in Bonn. Their first International Championships was staged at Bonn in 1955. Eddy Choong won the title on the first 3 occasions. .
India . India The Badminton Association of India was founded in September 1934. G. Lewis was their first player of world class. He was All-India champion from 1936 to 1940. Later there were Devinder Mohan, Prakash Nath, N. M. Natekar and T. N. Seth playing internationally. .
. Indonesia Indonesia was elected to the IBF in 1953. Originally, there were made up of District Associations, 22 in Java, 9 in Sumatra, 3 in Borneo and 1 each at Bali, Madura and Makassar. Top world class players were Tan Joe Hock and Ferry Sonneville, and they put out Denmark in the semi-finals round of the 1958 Thomas Cup and then defeated Malaysia in the final. .
Japan . Japan Organised Badminton in Japan started in 1947. The Nippon Badminton Association's HQ was based in Tokyo. Annual championships are held annually, and at the 9th All-Japan in May 1956 overseas players were invited to participate. Their first international team match was against Hong Kong in 1958. .
Malaysia . Malaysia Malaysian Badminton became organised in 1934, and was elected to the IBF in 1937. One of the greatest players was Wong Peng Soon, who first won the Malaysian Mixed Doubles in 1937. A. S. Samuel was the Singles champion. A Cambridge University student, H. S. Ong, gave England a foretaste of quality Badminton to come. After 1945, brothers, Eddy and David Choong (with cousins Robert and Amy Choong) were all studying in England and showed showed England their skills. H.A. (Johnny) Heah was also there. The Choongs won hundreds of Open titles in England between them. Eddy and David were involved in no less than 8 All-England titles while studying there. Malaysia won the Thomas Cup in its inaugural year (1949) defeating Denmark 8-1 at Preston, Lancs. Although most top players at that time were Chinese Malaysians, Abdullah Piruz and Ismail bin Marjan were also representing Malaysia. .
Netherlands . Netherlands The Netherlandsche Badmintonbond was a founder-member of the IBF in 1934. In 1938, it was disbanded. In 1952, it was reformed and re-elected to the IBF in 1953. Due to the influence of Indonesian students of world class who went to Amsterdam to study, Badminton took up again. Ferry Sonneville was one of them; and he performed well at Haarlem and Nijmegan. Local great players at that time were P. Bosman, L. Verhief and Mrs. A.W. Kosh. .
Next would be New Zealand . Next would be New Zealand I am running out of time again. I shall continue later. .
New Zealand . New Zealand New Zealand was one of the founder-members of the IBF. In 1927, there were 19 affiliated provincial associations, the highest standard being attained in Southland, Auckland, Otago and Wellington. Their 1938 lady champion, Miss Nancy Fleming, was playing in England. Other top-class players, Jeff Robson and Miss Heather Redwood, also played in England in the 1953-54 season. At that time, New Zealand's best halls were at Feilding (Manawatu), Palmerston North and Invercargill. .
Pakistan . Pakistan Pakistan Badminton was based chiefly on Lahore, and was elected to the IBF in 1953. There were 4 provincial associations; East Pakistan, Lahore, Karachi and Sind-Khaipur-Hyderabad Divisions. .
