Many of the posters on this site are from Canada and I have discussed with them the topic of Badminton in North America on a number of occasions. However, in those discussions, we refer to North American badminton as encompassing the sport only in America and Canada, altogether leaving out Mexico or any of the Central American and Caribbean countries. Is badminton popular in Mexico or any of these countries? How about in South America? Any world ranked players in the past 20 years from these parts of the world?
Umm... I don't think many of them surf the internet Brett. I imagine they would spend more of their time playing because computers would cost quite a bit down there.
Kelvin and Cooler, You are definitely correct about the economic and technical limitations in those countries, which I had considered when thinking about this topic earlier. In fact, it may be that the cost of badminton is primarily responsible for (perceived) lack of popularity in those countries. However, I would not think that the situation in Latin America might be that different from the situations in say, Indonesia and Malaysia - a few large cities and a lot of less-affluent rural areas.
Hi all, looking briefly at the IBF calendar shows that there are tournaments held in quite a few Central and South American countries. it'd only be fair to say that badminton is quite alive there. - Cuba International - Junior international Badminton Championships "Regatas 2001". Venue: Club de Regatas, Lima, PERU - Peru International - Chile International - PanAmerican Badminton Championships. Team & Individual event. Venue: Lima, Peru - Taca Sao Paulo International, Sao Paulo, Brazil - Argentina International, Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA - THOMAS & UBER PRELIMS (PANAM) Venue: Havana, Cuba - Guatemala International - Mexico International, Mexico City
There was a world class player from Mexico in 70's 80's who played a lot in asia and Europe and won a few tournaments. Roy Gonzalez is his name.US also had Chris Kinard during that period and Canada the Poole brothers and also Thai import called Chanrong.
Actually... My friends from Malaysia, and Indonesia told me it's absolutely 180 degrees the opposite!!! They get their stuff so inexpensive in Malaysia, that even the so called poor children are playing badminton with Cab21s, and BG85 or 95 strings... its nuts!!! I guess Yonex basically floods the market there, because it is their distribution area afterall, and that really doesn't give much chance for other companies to really compete for market share. that's just my guess...
So I was right! partially... They do play, but they just don't surf the net. Rather they just keep quiet, while they improve their skills, and sooner or later, take over the entire badminton world!!! ahhhhhhhh!!!!!! Mi amigos! I'm your friend!
yes, I know of Channarong, and Poole brothers... they coach here in the city, and I took a few private lessons with them when I was younger. Great people. Very dedicated to what they do.
Cuba I think Cuba is starting to focus on badminton. They can't all be boxers and volleyball players right? I can see some pretty good players coming from there in 10 years or so.
Re: Cuba i dont doubt that. Cuban are tall and stronger. If they can have a world class volleyball team, a world class badminton team is not impossible (with good coaching of course)
Re: Cuba So true! So maybe our sport really isn't doomed afterall. With proper promoting of course :lol: anywho... cooler Vince sends his regards. I'm going to be out of action for a while, and off the website too while recovering. Twisted my shoulder in a nasty way on a round the head smash... so stupid... I was going to snap my wrist, but for some reason, I turned my shoulder, and squish... ouch. think I tore something... it feels like needles stabbing my shoulder area. Hmm... I believe this was a lack of discipline/focus, and muscle control on my part.... poor... very poor. Anyways, I'm about ready for my trip... and I'll try to meet up with you at MRC before I leave... if you want anything from HK, or Malaysia... let me know then. Thanks, -Kelvin
Re: Cuba sorry to hear about your injury. I use more wrist than shoulder turning on my around the head shots, it's lot more accurate too. Stuff from hk or mal'a? I'm happy with my current racket arsenal. I'll email u if i something comes up. thanks for asking.