Badminton - The Second Most Popular Sport After Soccer?

[Loh]

So claims the author of this article on NSW teenager Leslie Yau, the recent June Bevan U-17 Australian champion.

Do you agree?


Hills Shire Times

Tuesday 22 April, 2008 12:01am

Leslie dreams of an Olympics spot

TEENAGER Leslie Yau has his eyes firmly focused on the prize.

However, the 16-year-old considers himself like any other teenager. He enjoys video games and hanging out with friends but not many 16-year-olds can boast of a number one ranking.

Leslie recently represented NSW at the prestigious June Bevan under-17 Australian Badminton Championships in Ballarat, where he beat everyone, took out the tournament and finished with the number one ranking in NSW.

Leslie is this week's Hills Shire Times Junior Sports Star nominee.

Since taking up the sport when he was nine years old, Leslie has excelled, winning numerous competitions including the under-17 NSW Badminton Junior Singles in 2007 and 2008.

"My dad started playing badminton socially and I got into it from there, I really enjoyed playing so I continued pursuing it," Leslie said.

The Year 11 student lives in Carlingford with his family and trains three times a week at Thornleigh Sports and Recreation Centre sometimes playing for three hours per session.

In June, Leslie will represent NSW at the under-19 Australian Championships in Geraldton, Western Australia, where he hopes to obtain an Australian ranking.

"I can't wait to compete, it will be great to hopefully get an Australian ranking," he said.

Leslie's immediate goal is to represent Australia at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games to be held in Singapore in 2010.

"To represent Australia would be a great achievement and hopefully one day I can represent my country at the Olympics," he said.

Badminton is the second most popular sport in the world after soccer.

[Gollum]

This claim is not backed up by data.

Loads of sports claim to be "the second most popular after soccer". I'm not even convinced we have good data for "soccer" being #1.

Clearly badminton is a very popular sport, but reliable participation figures are hard to come by.

[Heong]

I see Leslie Yau every Wednesday nights.

he's quite talented, especially for his age, he can keep up with the u19s.


Leslie, win us gold!

[Loh]

I see Leslie Yau every Wednesday nights.

he's quite talented, especially for his age, he can keep up with the u19s.


Leslie, win us gold!

I suppose your location now should be Sydney, Australia instead of KL, Malaysia.

[Maz]

Hi Loh,

This article has misquoted the facts. Leslie Yau is NOT a June Bevan U17 Australian Champion. Boris Ma (VIC) is the champion. For results, please see the Badminton Australia website or http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sp....aspx?id=20115

I think what the article is trying to communicate is that he is the NSW U17 State Champion. I do not doubt Leslie's unique ability, but thought I should clear things up as Boris deserves a mention.

Maz

So claims the author of this article on NSW teenager Leslie Yau, the recent June Bevan U-17 Australian champion.

Do you agree?


Hills Shire Times

Tuesday 22 April, 2008 12:01am

Leslie dreams of an Olympics spot

TEENAGER Leslie Yau has his eyes firmly focused on the prize.

However, the 16-year-old considers himself like any other teenager. He enjoys video games and hanging out with friends but not many 16-year-olds can boast of a number one ranking.

Leslie recently represented NSW at the prestigious June Bevan under-17 Australian Badminton Championships in Ballarat, where he beat everyone, took out the tournament and finished with the number one ranking in NSW.

Leslie is this week's Hills Shire Times Junior Sports Star nominee.

Since taking up the sport when he was nine years old, Leslie has excelled, winning numerous competitions including the under-17 NSW Badminton Junior Singles in 2007 and 2008.

"My dad started playing badminton socially and I got into it from there, I really enjoyed playing so I continued pursuing it," Leslie said.

The Year 11 student lives in Carlingford with his family and trains three times a week at Thornleigh Sports and Recreation Centre sometimes playing for three hours per session.

In June, Leslie will represent NSW at the under-19 Australian Championships in Geraldton, Western Australia, where he hopes to obtain an Australian ranking.

"I can't wait to compete, it will be great to hopefully get an Australian ranking," he said.

Leslie's immediate goal is to represent Australia at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games to be held in Singapore in 2010.

"To represent Australia would be a great achievement and hopefully one day I can represent my country at the Olympics," he said.

Badminton is the second most popular sport in the world after soccer.

[Loh]

Hi Loh,

This article has misquoted the facts. Leslie Yau is NOT a June Bevan U17 Australian Champion. Boris Ma (VIC) is the champion. For results, please see the Badminton Australia website or http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sp....aspx?id=20115

I think what the article is trying to communicate is that he is the NSW U17 State Champion. I do not doubt Leslie's unique ability, but thought I should clear things up as Boris deserves a mention.

Maz

Good to hear from you Maz.

[Heong]

yes, it's True.

Unfortunately, they didnt do very well against Vic or NZ during the u17 Australasian Championships this year.

Even if we had LY on the team.

[llpjlau]

This claim is not backed up by data.

Loads of sports claim to be "the second most popular after soccer". I'm not even convinced we have good data for "soccer" being #1.

Clearly badminton is a very popular sport, but reliable participation figures are hard to come by.

i think it is a widely accepted fact that soccer/football (ie the real football, one and only) is the #1 sport in the world. just look at the FIFA World Cup, its attracts millions of people from all walks of life.
badminton.. well, it may be the #2 sport in Asia but i doubt worldwide. its just not accepted enough in the Western world yet.

[lilmizbadz]

whos ly?
aniwais~ nsw team is not going very well against nz i agree wif that.. leslie's juz ranked no1 in nsw team A...
aniwaiis~
badminton is the worlds fastest racket sport and the 5th most popular sport...
i wonder what could be after it...

[cooler]

Popular - is a vague term.
If it meant most watched audience, i wouldn't doubt soccer's #1 spot. However, if we measure it by participation, i have to say no. I don't have hard statistic but from all my readings, I would say online video game players take the #1 position. After that, the #2 participated sport is blurry. Even if we measure it by participation, it is still blurry since what does it mean by participation -duration or just by number of semi-interested on/off players.

ex, 1 recreational badminton player plays 6 hrs per week for 52 weeks as compared to 2 recreational soccer players who play once a week for 3 hours and only during soccer season maybe for 20 weeks/yr.

Here is an excerpt from Anna Rice, a canadian national WS player"

"When China first got the Games, there were only two events that sold out right away— the opening ceremony and badminton. It's huge in China," Rice said.

If badminton is this much popular in china, it is not far off to say badminton is comparable if not more popular than soccer.

[llpjlau]

is online gaming a sport? or a pastime/hobby/recreational activity/game?

[Gollum]

i think it is a widely accepted fact that soccer/football (ie the real football, one and only) is the #1 sport in the world. just look at the FIFA World Cup, its attracts millions of people from all walks of life.
badminton.. well, it may be the #2 sport in Asia but i doubt worldwide. its just not accepted enough in the Western world yet.

• "Widely accepted fact" != "True"
• "Most popular spectator sport" != "Most popular participation sport"
• "Greatest media coverage" != "Most popular participation sport"
• "Your opinion" != "Real data"

[Sasho]

i think it is a widely accepted fact that soccer/football (ie the real football, one and only) is the #1 sport in the world. just look at the FIFA World Cup, its attracts millions of people from all walks of life.
badminton.. well, it may be the #2 sport in Asia but i doubt worldwide. its just not accepted enough in the Western world yet.

I thought table tennis and badminton are #1 and #2 in Asia, and football is around #5 or #6, after all these marshal arts

[walkinghome]

Pre-teenage Leslie enjoyed playing badminton every Sunday and possessed the most natural off-forehand cross court dropshot. He won his competition debut and completely surprised himself. "Didn't I tell you", his sidekick shook the lad and smiled in return.

His half belief since that day has grown full. Keep it real, Leslie. Always enjoy playing.

[CkcJsm]

Yea, people here make fun of badminton.
Espl football players.

[Tsumaranai]

If you mean soccer players, then they should give badminton a try. If perchance you mean American football players, then all you need to do is remind them what sport ISN'T in the Olympics.

[phandrew]

It is really impossible to tell how many people play which sport because one person can play many sports and if adding up the numbers it will be hard.