Independent sports website, Sportingo, has run an article asserting that Asian dominance within the Badminton is holding the sport back.
Sportingo quotes,
“Despite the fast-paced action and tremendous excitement it offers, badminton does not enjoy the same popularity and media coverage as basketball, soccer, boxing, tennis or even mixed martial arts.
Badminton combines stamina, strength and speed which make it perfect as a spectator sport.
It is an Olympic sport that has five disciplines – men’s and women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles.
It boasts of greater explosive athleticism than most racket sports as players are required to jump for height to execute those game-winning smashes.
On record, the fastest tennis stroke is Andy Roddick’s 153mph serve while the fastest badminton stroke is Fu Haifeng’s 206mph smash.
Bill Gates watched a badminton match at the Beijing Olympics and was quoted as saying that he liked what he saw. What, then, could explain the sport’s lack of ample media coverage, viewership and patronage?
Looking at the latest Badminton World Federation rankings, I notice an interesting and significant detail. In the men’s singles rankings, eight out of the top 10 players are Asians.
The only exceptions are Danish pair Peter Gade (4th) and Jan O Jergensen (10th).”
For more articles by Sportingo visit the website at www.sportingo.com
