which do u think has more glamour.a few yrs ago probably most would have said tennis.but now i guess things have changed.agreed,that most people around the world think tennis is better but that is only because the game is more famous.i think the current lot of charming shuttlers like lin dan,taufik,gade etc can arguably be more exciting than guys like say roddick,federer etc.for this to happen u would need better live coverage for the game.. a perfect example for this would be the olympics where people all over the world tuned in to thier television sets to watch the mxd final.it wasn't just that the match itself wasn't excitng enough but it was a treat to the eyes because of the quality of coverage.the ibf should look to increase the game's fame and provide live coverage to the game instead of introducing ridiculous rules\changes.what do u think???comment on this.anyways returning to my question which is more glamourous -tennis or badminton.[if each of them was given the same quality of coverage]
Sigh! Tennis - Maria Sharapova. Badminton - Carla Bott. Really tough to decide which is more glamourous.
from a blogger Sunday, June 25, 2006 BADMINTON VS. TENNIS A friend introduced me to badminton during the summer of 2001. I was hesitant at first because the sport did not seem to be challenging at all. I would often see children on the streets playing “backyard badminton”. Tennis, on the other hand, seemed a lot more prestigious, with all the “Grand Slam” tournaments being televised, having “million-dollar” prizes and famous players landing ridiculously high-priced advertising contracts like Sampras, Hingis, Agassi and Kournikova. (Note: Remember, this was during 2001.) I would often dream of hiking off to England and watching a badminton game during Wimbledon, often considered as the most prestigious of the 4 Grand Slam Tournaments. During that time, I made the mistake of training for badminton and tennis at the same time. What I lacked in talent, I made up for in enthusiasm. I would play badminton during the week and tennis during weekends. My hand suffered in the process. I had tendinitis on my right hand. Rest was the only cure. I could not play both sports without sacrificing my body and risking further injuries, so I had to choose between the two. Badminton and tennis are often compared to each other. Players at opposite ends of the court aim to hit a shuttlecock (in the case of badminton) or tennis ball (in the case of tennis) over the net so that it lands inside the marked boundaries of the court, and aim to prevent their opponents from doing the same. However, unlike a tennis ball, the shuttlecock flies with a lot of drag and will not bounce significantly. Badminton is considered as the fastest racquet sports in the world with shuttles reaching speeds of up to 200 mph. Badminton champion Fu Haifeng of China set the official world smash record on 3 June 2005. The actual shuttlecock speed was measured as 332 km/h or 206 mph, faster than the Eurostar train. The rallies of each point tend to be much longer in badminton than in tennis. This is true even though winning a ‘shutout’ match in badminton requires only winning 42 points (21-0, 21-0, in a Men’s Singles match according to the newest rule set by the International Badminton Federation), whereas in tennis it would require 72 points (6-0, 6-0, 6-0). Badminton can be physically more tiring than tennis as the time between shots can be much shorter (since the players have to hit the shuttle before it bounces, whereas in tennis, the players have to hit the ball before it has bounced twice or hit any fixtures.) When a shot is played in tennis, the whole of the arm is used in one sweeping action, whereas in badminton, a wide range of motions is employed, from delicate flicks of the wrist and pressing of fingers to full-body smashes and clears. Speed, reaction and endurance are all important to a successful badminton player. From a fitness perspective, a close comparison can be made to squash which also has the same explosive starts. (Courtesy of Wikipedia.) For personal reasons that will be made clear in future posts, I have chosen to concentrate on playing badminton. I recently cleaned my closet and gave away my tennis rackets to others who will put it to good use. I am not saying that one sport is better than the other. This is all about personal choices, about what kind of sports will fit each individual. After all, variety is the spice of life.
In tennis if you are not sure if the ball is in or out you can let the ball hit the ground while you get ready to hit or not to hit the ball. (To play safe.) In badminton you have to be more accurate. If the ball hit the ground there is no more way of saving the shot.
Glamour: An air of compelling charm, romance, and excitement, especially when delusively alluring. If you're speaking of the game itself, (most probably) everyone here would vote for badminton, whether while playing or watching...
Line calls & eye tracking Actually, it's often not that easy to do at all. If you fixate on the line, then quite often it will be difficult to track the ball and focus on your contant point. On the other hand, if you are really tracking the ball & then focusing on your expected contact point, you will quite often not be able to tell exactly where the ball bounces with respect to the line. I've "seen" this happen more times than I can hope to count. You see this happening all the time when playing tennis doubs. The partner playing the ball quite often has no idea is a close ball is in or out whereas his partner might be able to see that it is clearly out -- sometimes as much as 4-6 inches (10-15 cm) or more. This happens becuz our eyes usually can no longer use smooth pursuit tracking when the ball (or shuttle) is in close proximity. Instead, eye tracking switches to saccadic (look-ahead) tracking. You can look-ahead to the line or you can look-ahead to your expected contact point, but usually not both (unless, perhaps, the ball speed is extremely slow or the angle of attack for the ball bounce is very steep). You see something similar happen in badminton all the time. An honest player that is fairly close to a shuttle hitting the floor will quite often make an erroneous line call -- especially with a smash that hits at a shallow angle. This is becuz his head & eyes are usually moving in an futile attempt to smooth pursuit the flight of the shuttle. His peripheral vision might be "seeing" the floor contact, but this does not yield an accurate picture. By ths time his saccadic tracking picks up the location of a shot that is in, his eyes & brain see it as out. This is the very reason that certified linepeople for tennis & badminton are trained to keep their heads still and eyes trained on the outside edge of the line any time a ball/shuttle appears to be encroaching. If the linesperson, instead, tries to track the ball/shuttle all the way to the line, their line-calling accuracy suffers greatly. Note that smooth pursuit tracking is good up to velocites of about 90 degrees per 100 milliseconds. Objects travelling thru our field of vision faster than that require saccadic tracking. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saccadic
My apologies for the thread highjack above -- couldn't resist the opportunity. Hadn't seen pix of Carola Bott before. Now that I have, I agree that this is a tough choice. Wish that Anna K was still playing competitive tennis -- even tho' she tended to choke in later rounds when playing singles matches, she was an accomplished doubles player -- very athletic & not repulsive to the eye.
Just to put things in perspectives Below article is published today by an AP Sports Writer. I am a badminton fanatic; however, if you look at the Tennis Grand Slam total prize money and compare it to Badminton's Super Series Final (about 50 times) you might wonder why Tennis is still more glamorous. ======== Wimbledon winners to get $1.4M each By KRYSTYNA RUDZKI, AP Sports Writer WIMBLEDON, England - The total purse at Wimbleton will be 8.7 percent more than last year, with the male and female champion each taking home $1.4 million. The only Grand Slam tournament on grass will offer total prize money of $22,572,011. The increase reflects female and male competitors getting equal pay from the first round to the final for the first time since it began paying players in 1968. Wimbledon announced the pay equity on Feb. 22. "No tennis tournament has ever offered higher prize money than Wimbledon in 2007," All England Club chairman Tim Phillips said. Roger Federer earned $1.17 million in winning last year's tournament, while Amelie Mauresmo took home $1.11 million. ============================ For a complete story, please follw this link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070424/ap_on_sp_te_ne/ten_wimbledon_prize_money_2
I've always wondered where on earth all that prize money for Wimbledon comes from, is it mainly from sponsors or is the All England Club just rich? We should have an All England Club for badminton also :$
and also try Sarah Bok aswell ! http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=557546&postcount=17
Tennis by far. Badminton just doesn't have the US popularity to keep up, although tennis isn't the most popular sport in the US.
for now, no doubt tennis has more glamor. -------------------------------------------- Paradorn's my ace: Natalie Former Miss Universe Natalie Glebova kisses fiancee Paradorn Srichaphan at their engagement at Bangkok’s Sukhothai Hotel yesterday. Tennis star Paradorn announces engagement to former Miss Universe and tells the world that Natalie will be a daughter-in-law to the Thai people Who wants a Grand Slam win when you have a Miss Universe as a future wife? Thailand's No 1 tennis player Paradorn Srichaphan might not have been having the best of times on court lately, but the love result was definitely in his favour when he announced his engagement to Natalie Glebova at a packed "private ceremony" at Bangkok's Sukhothai Hotel yesterday. Initially, there were no signs at all that Paradorn had a serious interest in Natalie, a Canadian of Russian descent who won Miss Universe in 2005. Dribs and drabs of rumour, gossip and speculation did the usual rounds of newspaper columns and web boards. But it was so low-key that it appeared even Natalie's parents, Vlad Slezin and Anna Glebova, were not aware of the impending engagement. Super Ball, as the high-profile star with a trail of broken hearts behind him is known, had quietly eased away from any efforts to get married despite the string of beautiful women he dated. He simply let it be known that he would not have a family until he was over 30. In the meantime, Asia's number one tennis player was wooing dozens of beautiful models and stars around the world, including pop singer Tata Young and supermodel Odette Henriette Jacqmin. Paradorn met Natalie during the Thailand Open last year. At first, people thought there might be a brief romance between the two. But tongues ran wild when Natalie gave Paradorn a peck on his cheek as a reward for his quarter-final win over Tim Henman. Paradorn is now 28. Love has bloomed. It's time for marriage. "It is once in a lifetime that a man has to decide to settle down and have a family and I have only one chance to make this. Natalie is definitely going to be a daughter-in-law for the Thai people," Paradorn told the press. Planned as a private ceremony, the couple's engagement announcement turned out to be anything but, with around 200 media present and Channel 3 broadcasting the event live. Although the guest numbers were small - perhaps less than 20 including Natalie's parents Vlad Slezin and Anna Glebova - the function room was jam-packed as everyone pushed for the best vantage point. The engagement news broke late last week and since then the two have been followed closely by the media. However, Paradorn had said he would not give any information before yesterday's announcement. Paradorn's father Chanachai told the press that the two were already engaged privately on April 13 in Bali, Indonesia. The family organised the press conference to officially inform the public of their commitment to each other. "We wish that everyone is happy for them," said Chanachai, also Paradorn's former coach. Everyone at the function could sense the man's nervousness. He looked as if he was playing in a Grand Slam final as he tried to place a necklace around Natalie's neck before the public. They then exchanged their love vows as Paradorn said in Russian: "Ya tebya lublu" and Natalie immediately responded: "Fah ruk phi Ball mak mak kha." Chanachai's gifts to his future daughter-in-law surprised everyone: a diamond necklace and a pair of earrings - 13 karats altogether - worth around Bt13 million in total. The Srichaphans' welcome of Natalie into the family is no secret to the public. The beauty queen has been named "Piangfah" and nicknamed "Fah" by the family. Natalie made it a point to show her gratitude at the event. "Thank you (pointing at Paradorn's mother Ubol) for giving the name Piangfah." Paradorn's eldest brother Thanakorn's added: "We are glad that an angel has chosen to become part of our family. I'm confident my brother will take good care of the angel." The media then urged the tennis celebrity to show them how he proposed to Natalie - but he refused. "I just followed my heart then. It would be uncomfortable if I had to repeat it right now. We would like to keep that moment only between us." However, Paradorn did recall the moment and said it was after a meal while they were strolling along the beach. They talked for around 30 minutes until Natalie sensed he was uneasy and asked him what was wrong. "Then I knelt down and asked her to marry me and she said 'yes' four times. I put the ring (three-karat diamond ring on white gold) on her finger4. I had it engraved 'Natalie'." Natalie then told the media: "The feeling straight from my heart is that, yes, I will spend the rest of my life and build my family with this person. He's very compassionate to other people and open to them. That's why I love him." Paradorn's brother Thanakorn said his brother would wed Natalie on November 28 at the Royal Thai Navy Convention Hall in Thon Buri. "Natalie was impressed with the place when she attended the celebration of the 60th anniversary of His Majesty the King's accession to the throne," he said. After the marriage, Natalie will stay in Thailand and continue working for Boonrawd Co. She will also start a beauty business. Thanakorn said Paradorn planned to play tennis for three or four more years. He will then retire and run his own business by opening a 50-rai sports complex in Pattaya, where the couple will build their home. Natalie plans to keep her last name and will be called Natalie Glebova Srichaphan. Natalie's parents are happy for the future couple. "I would like to thank the Srichaphan family for accepting Natalie as a daughter. I also want to thank the Thai people for accepting Natalie in their country," said the bride's father Vlad Slezin. Somporn Supop, Teerapot Taweewanabul The Nation
woot woot! Natalie is quite the stunner indeed, reminds me of one of my gf's Personally I would say, tennis has quite a bit more glitz & glamour to the sport. As mentioned previously... big prizes, tons of coverage, a lot of players, you can play indoor & outdoor in proper facilities... whereas badminton well you're kinda stuck with the stigma of the old "back yard" image... Perhaps that could be one of the advertisements BWF & BPF, can use to advertise badminton... show funny & cheesy images of some old peoples playing "back yard" style, and then show a couple snippets of the top pros in all their glory, throwing down those 300km/h smashes we all love to see, and watch get returned by some excellent defense kekeke... back on topic. The future of badminton, (while looking much brighter now, than it did a mere 3ish years ago) was up in the air... Thankfully we've got players like Bobby Milroy & the BPF supporters, who are getting in touch with every day players like us; to get more feedback, and taking this info to the BWF... pointing the sport in a good direction for future expansion & growth.
Is it just me or are Tennis players very snobbish people? ofcourse not all of them, I'm sure there are many players who are humble and grounded in thier personality but It also seems like too many of them act more like rich celebrities than athletes ....
