How Popular is Badminton in your Country?

**ttktom** · 08-25-2003, 02:25 AM

here in the U.K it's the biggest Racket sport more popular than Tennis it's the 3rd biggest sport after Football and Athletics. my local sports shops are always running out of rackets.

**swijaya0101** · 08-25-2003, 02:31 AM

eventhough Indonesian team is not qualified to the world-cup, i believe soccer is still the biggest sport in the country.

the second would be badminton

**cappy75** · 08-25-2003, 02:48 AM

Heh! Definitely not big enough in my country

Little media coverage of world competitions, let alone national and local competitions in local news. Also, more coverage in professional baseball, golf, ice hockey and basketball. Heck, we're even getting more news about our ladies national soccer team than badminton events. That's how big it is in our country

**khengsang** · 08-25-2003, 02:48 AM

In the US its about as popular as lawn bowling

Well maybe not that bad, but its pretty bad. I think if you mention you play badminton to someone they picture the classic view of badminton with people running around and tapping the bird up lol. Plus most places here play with plastic shuttles. Its pretty funny Ive even seen these funky plastic shuttles they sell at the Sports chains, basically the plastic net has no holes, its just a cone. One time this lady asked me to play and she whipped one of those out and I was like.. what the..

Fortunately in Cali lots of clubs though where play is a bit more serious.. still not as popular as I would like..

**seven** · 08-25-2003, 03:16 AM

In France, badminton was pretty confidential when I started 14 years ago...

Now it's getting more popular, especially in schools, but most players here don't know anything about international badminton!

(Chen who? Kim what??

)

**Bbn** · 08-25-2003, 03:33 AM

Originally posted by ttktom
here in the U.K it's the biggest Racket sport more popular than Tennis it's the 3rd biggest sport after Football and Athletics. my local sports shops are always running out of rackets.

Sure? Which part of UK might that be ?

Perhaps squash may be bigger, so many UK kingpins.

Maybe Table Tennis may be bigger, Uk once had several world ranling players.

***kwun*** · 08-25-2003, 04:10 AM

what do you mean by "big"?

do you mean big by many ppl plays it?
or many ppl watch it on TV?
or many ppl knows that the sport exists?

in the US, american football, ice hockey, baseball and basketball are "big" in terms of number of ppl watching them on TV with a tub of popcorn sitting on their growing belly. i wonder though how many americans actually have stepped into an icehockey rink. basketball may be more popular and all are popular in schools.

in the UK, rugby, cricket, field hockey and soccer are big in schools. i had trouble finding enough badminton players in schools there. viewerships, i think we have heard enough complaints that there are hardly any badminton TV broadcast so it cannot be popular in that respect.

so what is "big" by your definition?

***Mag*** · 08-25-2003, 08:33 AM

Here in Sweden, badminton is one of the biggest recreational sport activities. However, on a competitive level the sport is quite small, and on a professional level it is marginal. And in media it hardly exists!

To exemplify:

Almost everybody knows somebody that plays badminton every now and then.

None of my friends (other than those in my club) enter tournaments.

There are no international senior competitions in Sweden anymore.

The biggest morning paper reports results (nothing more) from international tournaments, but only if there are Swedes still left in the tournament... (Which usually means that nothing is reported beyond the 3rd round.

) TV never reports anything.

A series match in the Elite division (the top national league) typically attracts 20-100 spectators.

**wilfredlgf** · 08-25-2003, 10:17 AM

In general :

Participation - very high, esp in urban areas and cities. Courts are often fully booked early in the month. Always full.

Support - based on previous Thomas Cup and current WC2003, I'd say the support is pretty big. The only thing that really gets on my nerves is that if we don't have satellite TV, we aren't gonna be able to watch it... darn...

Media - it's in the news almost everyday, but not as big as the English Premier League. Even F1 gets LIVE coverage in Malaysia... darn... again...

Awareness/knowledge - not really that big as most only know by country - CHINA or MALAYSIA or 'YEE NEE'. Only some will go to the length of knowing who plays using what racquet and head-2-head records,

Equipment - highly abundant. Shuttles of all sorts of brands can be found here. Same with racquets.

Anything my fellow Malaysians can add?

**whizkelv** · 08-25-2003, 10:36 AM

Further to add about Malaysia.

The governments are pretty "supportive" for the game.
Once you win a title or Commonwealth Games medal, you are national hero.
You'll get free land, free homes, offer for "constable" job, lifelong pension plan, and months of celebration until you forgot the basics of badminton!

**swijaya0101** · 08-25-2003, 11:28 AM

here in Singapore,

facilities

i am sure that badminton has become popular sports ... there are so many sports hall with at least 4-10 courts ...

and they are all fully-book during peak period (night or weekend) ... we have to wake up at 7AM to do online reservation every Tuesday ...

competition

they are so many competition in Singapore ... if you dont mind travelling 1/2 - 1 hour ... i believe you could join competition at least once a month. However, the tournament mostly dominated by indonesian or malaysian.

seriouslly, i like staying in singapore after i found lots of badminton friends.

**jwu** · 08-25-2003, 04:10 PM

when I was in taiwan a decade ago, badminton was and I think still is pretty popular back there. since i came here to US east coast, I don't think people even know what badminton is. some towns might have badminton listed in their adult recreation list but the quality is just plain terrible.

**Loh** · 08-26-2003, 12:36 AM

Originally posted by swijaya0101
here in Singapore,

competition

they are so many competition in Singapore ... if you dont mind travelling 1/2 - 1 hour ... i believe you could join competition at least once a month. However, the tournament mostly dominated by indonesian or malaysian.

seriouslly, i like staying in singapore after i found lots of badminton friends.

I am glad to note that Swijaya likes to stay in S'pore because of the availability of badminton facilities and lots of badminton fans. I suppose he must be from Indonesia?

Badminton has always been popular in S'pore just as it has been across the causeway in Malaysia. To a great extent, its popularity has been influenced by the success of local stars like the late Wong Peng Soon and the late Ong Poh Lim, who helped Malaya won the Thomas Cup, when S'pore was part of Malaya in the late forties and early fifties.

It is one of the top 10 sports in S'pore and certainly the most popular among the three racket sports including tennisand table-tennis. Almost every school in the country, whether primary, secondary, college and varsity, has a number of courts and the facilities are periodically upgraded. So, in a way, the popularity of this game will be difficult to fade away despite the fact that we have not been able to produce world-class players for such a long time. Competitions at school level is very intense and generate a lot of interest, particularly so at the national school level.

Now, the question begs, why is it that with such a keen following, S'pore badminton ranks not among the top nations category? This has to do with the culture and mindset of its people, largely Chinese (70% of the total population) who put great emphasis on education rather than on sports. But this is changing as the recent enrolment to the country's first Sports School took many by surprise with an overwhelming response. The S'pore Government is now emphasizing on Sports and the Arts to add greater vitality, interest and all-roundedness to the society and make it a more attractive place for foreign talent and direct investment. The accruing benefits will be immense, not only will they have to do with the economy but they also give its citizens a greater sense of belonging and the desire to stay on as Singaporeans and not to migrate elsewhere indiscriminately.

But it'll take some time. Thankfully, the relevant authorities are not sitting down doing nothing about it but have already activated plans and programmes to make it really happen!

**pinocchio** · 08-26-2003, 12:45 AM

my observation for HK

- many many casual / holiday players, as a family sports

- many club-players / group-players scattered around the crowded HK

- only a handful of "sponsored" professional players

- badminton matches - can only seen on CableTV (not on free TV broadcast)

In terms of commecial values, it is definitely below soccer and tennis.

Also - funny to note that I have not seen a video game on badminton.

***Cheung*** · 08-26-2003, 12:50 AM

Very popular in HK.

1) government supports it - many schools hold classes for their PE lessons
2) HKers now have more affinity to China - and Chinese players are pretty good in world badminton
3) to get a court at a public leisure centre during peak hours is nearly impossible if you book a week in advance.
4) Parents - see it as a 'non-power' sport therefore good for girls (non muscular build cf tennis)
5) Parents - because it is an indoor sport, it is iinherently safer than basketball/football where the son may be more easily approached by undesirable non sports minded characters!

**Supersmash** · 08-26-2003, 03:48 AM

badminton in China:

Badminton is very popular in China.
1. Every province in China has professional badminton teams which help its popularity greatly.
2. Govenment support. There're so many top palyers, such as Xia. So govenment always regard it as one of the most important sports.
3. As per capita income goes up and up, more and more ppl pay greatly attention to their health, especial experienced SARS.
4. Now in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing etc. big cities, most of courts are full, and it's very difficult to book courts in weekends.

**Wizbit** · 08-26-2003, 12:14 PM

Badminton in the UK (England):

-Predominantly played indoors, in a local leisure centre/sports centre or community centres. Typical rates of £4-£5 per hour, per court. Conditions vary from centre to centre.
-Have to share facilities with other users, such as basketball, indoor football, gymnastics, hockey etc.

-A lot of casual players who play - mainly to get some exercise and lose weight. No knowledge of rules, and hire racquets from leisure/sports centres.

-Quite a large number of clubs, if you know where to look. But Badminton is seen as a winter sport, with a 6 month season. Begins in September, ends in March. Clubs are usually full during Winter season, but during Summer, people flock to play 'Summer sports' like Tennis, and many clubs reduce the amount of courts available. Typical number of courts in a club 2-4. Rate: £3-5 for a 2 hour session, excluding member ship fees (anywhere in region of £10-£20).

-A lot of clubs participate in local leagues available in virtually every town and city. Standards vary considerably. Players equipped with at least a set of basic rules and knowledge, and their own equipment.

-Mixture of plastic and feature shuttles in different clubs, but higher standard clubs tend to use feathers (feathers are really expensive here, many clubs order from Asia directly).

-Clubs lack young women and women of high standard, in general. Age range varies between 16-60+ for Mens, and 30s+ for Ladies.

-Clubs only participate exclusively in doubles and mixed doubles.

-County standard is the pinnacle for majority of amateurs. To play for a county is like playing for a Province in China. Standard is very competitive (for UK) The 'Premier Division' is where most Internationals in.

-Full time pros train at the National Badminton Centre (or whatever it's called), based near the centre of England.

-Apart from Internationals and some county players, few others keep up to date or have any interest in International Badminton. Most prefer to go and watch a football team.

-Being UK no.1 doesn't mean anything on the World Stage, or even in UK! compare with being no.1 in Denmark, China, Malaysia, Indonesia..e.g. being no.1 in Malaysia, you will be a celebrity and can probably make VIP list..try sneaking into a party in England, and tell them you are UK No.1 badminton player

, and see where they'll tell you to go!

Badminton may be 3rd most popular participation sport, but to put into perspective, Badminton gets less coverage than the following; Football (soccer), Cricket, Rugby, Tennis, Athletics, Basketball, Wrestling, Darts, Snooker, Curling, Bowling; Hockey, Horse Racing, F1 & motor racing, Extreme sports (to name a few!).

TV coverage: about an hour of highlights per major UK hosted tournament; such as All England, Commonwealth, WC etc. For those with SKY satellite dish and pay for premium sports channels, Badminton is sometimes broadcasted quarters or Semis onwards, live. So for a majority of the population, they will get 1 hour of badminton footage per year.

To Sum up: Badminton scene in UK -couldn't care less.

Original poster: that shop you are talking about, does it only have 1 racquet per month

..or maybe because the season is starting again, so players are equipping themselves.