You may cheer for PV Sindhu, but how much do you actually know about badminton?
Olympic silver medalist PV Sindhu and bronze medalist Sakshi Malik have won glory for India on the world stage with their stellar performances in the fields of badminton and wrestling, respectively.
With two medals in its kitty, athletes and sports aficionados across India are already excited about making a stronger campaign at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. While the Olympics have managed to pique interest about other sports in a cricket-crazy nation, one wonders how long this will last.
Over the next four years, cricket will recapture the attention of the nation once again, while discussions about sports like badminton, wrestling, gymnastics and track, to name a few, will be restricted to the training grounds alone
This will continue till 2020, when interest in these games shall be renewed, and people take off their cricket jerseys to cheer for the sportspeople representing these events at Tokyo instead.
Promises to keep interest in these games alive will be made. The exclamations of 'thank god it is not cricket' will make the rounds. And after Tokyo 2020, these sports will be forgotten yet again. The cycle repeats itself every four years.
The sight of a cricket-mad country cheering for Sindhu in the badminton women's finals at Rio was heart-warming, to say the least. For the time being, India cannot claim to be anything but a 'cricket-mad' nation. Because every cricket event - no matter how small - manages to garner both eyeballs and interest.
How will things change? By attempting to learn more about different sports and spreading awareness about the same. And by playing these, of course.
To start with, let's talk about badminton, the sport that the woman of the hour, PV Sindhu, has devoted her life to.
Badminton championships to watch out for
Want to follow the sport? Here is the next major badminton event for you to look out for.
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Championships are scheduled to be held in Glasgow, between 21-27 August 2017.
The championship will put Glasgow on the list of places which have hosted the individual world championships on more than one occasion, with Copenhagen, Jakarta and Birmingham being the other cities.
Current top players
The current reigning badminton champions in different categories are:
- Chen Long (China) - Men's Singles
- Carolina Marin (Spain) - Women's Singles
- Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei (China) - Mixed Doubles
- Mohamman Ahsan and Hendra Satiawan - (Indonesia) Men's Doubles
- Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei (China) - Women's Doubles
India's ace shuttlers, London Olympic bronze medalist Saina Nehwal and Rio star Sindhu are currently on the ninth and tenth positions, respectively. Nehwal lost her world number four position after crashing out of the Rio games due to an injury.
Your guide to understanding badminton
Here are all the important terms of the beautiful game that you need to familiarise yourself with:
Badminton Terminology
Backcourt: The back third of the court in the area of the back boundary lines.
Base position: It is the location in the centre of the Badminton court to which a player (singles) tries to return after each shot. It is also called centre position.
Baseline: The back boundary line at each end of the court, parallel to the net.
Centre line: A line perpendicular to the net that separates the left and right service courts.
Forecourt: The front third of the court, between the net and the short service line.
Long Service Line: In singles the back boundary line is the Long Service Line. In doubles a line 2-1/2 feet inside the back boundary line.
Midcourt: The middle third of the court, which is halfway between the net and the back boundary line.
Service court: This is that area of a court into which a service must be delivered. The service court vary for singles and doubles.
Short service line: The front line of the service courts, which is 1.98 metres from the net.
Singles sideline: The side boundary of a singles court.
First published: 27 August 2016, 12:23 IST
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