Badminton

What is badminton?

Badminton is the shuttlecock racquet sport — rallies of astonishing speed (smashes past 400 km/h) and delicacy, five Olympic events since 1992, with Asia its heartland and the BWF its Kuala Lumpur-based federation.^[1] [2]

How does the sport work?

Games to 21, best of three, across men's and women's singles and doubles and mixed. The BWF World Tour — Super 1000s (the All England foremost) down to Super 300s — feeds weekly world rankings that govern entry and Olympic qualification, with the Worlds and team Cups above.^[2] [3]

Where is badminton popular?

It is a first-rank sport across Asia — China, Indonesia (where it is the national passion), India (host of the 2026 Worlds), Malaysia, Japan, Korea, Thailand and Chinese Taipei — with Denmark Europe's stronghold; An Se-young's dominance and Viktor Axelsen's era headline the current game.^[2] [4]

What are the most important competitions?

• The Olympics and the World Championships.^[2]
• The All England Open — the sport's oldest championship, since 1899.^[1]
• The Thomas Cup (men), Uber Cup (women) and Sudirman Cup (mixed) — the great national-team trophies.^[2]
• The BWF World Tour and its season Finals.^[3]

How is badminton awarded?

• BWF world rankings — weekly and Olympic-qualifying: the objective ladder.^[3]
• World, Olympic and All England titles — the sport's canon.^[2]
• Team Cup selection — Thomas/Uber/Sudirman rosters are national honors.^[2]
• World Tour titles by tier, every draw archived.^[3]