I saw this article on Sportskeeda: Are Asian shuttlers truly better than their European counterparts? link: https://www.sportskeeda.com/badmint...truly-better-than-their-european-counterparts The article is indeed convincing about the fact that Asian badminton players are achieving more (especially at the Worlds 2018). But I was wondering, is their a specific reason why this is? Or is it just coincidentally?
The reason is simple. Badminton is not as popular in Europe as it is in the Asian countries. More popularity -> more players, more money -> more competition -> better players -> better achievements -> more money --> ...
But if that is the reason, Europe can just invest a huge amount of money in it and then the circle continues to rotate as you explained. Does it have nothing to do with talent, according to you? The lack of popularity is just because Europe doesn't even try to make the sport accessible for everyone. When you are just a layman, it's difficult to find new about badminton, when you live in Europe. Tournaments are not even on TV and results are not in the news or the newspapers.
Why should any sponsor do so? They need reasons for this. Of course other factors influence the achievements as well. But the biggest reason imo is money, players know they cannot make a living with Badminton and have to study simultaneously, while most players in Asia can fully focus on Badminton.
It has everything to with talent. Talent that comes from a cultural love of the game; from opportunities to play at a young age; from availability of quality coaching; from rabid competition; and from countless hours of practice. Those circumstances can exist anywhere. But they exist in Asia more than elsewhere.
Play field size is the factor. The size of the playing field decides the number of spectators which eventually affect the fan base, tickets and merchandise sales. That is why football, rugby, cricket, baseball, golf >>>>basketball>>>tennis>>badminton>table tennis.
