Some Facts about Badminton

Origins:
Badminton was invented long ago; its origins date back at least two thousand years to the game of battledore and shuttlecock played in ancient Greece, India and China.

A surprisingly long history for one of the Olympics newest sports! Badminton took its name from Badminton House in Gloucestershire, the home of the Duke of Beaufort, where the sport was played in the last century. By coincidence, Gloucestershire is now the base for the International Badminton Federation.

Popularity: 

There are now over 148 countries represented by the BWF.
A 1993 study revealed that more than 1.2 million Americans play badminton at least 25 times a year, 760,000 Americans call badminton their favorite sport, and more than 11.2 million Americans played the sport at least once during the year.
Internationally, more than 1.1 billion people watched the 1992 Olympic badminton competition on television.

Fitness:

Badminton is a highly aerobic sport. In a typical two-game match, a player runs about one mile.

The speed and the stamina required for badminton are far greater than for any other racket sport. At the 1985 All England (Tennis) Championships, Boris Becker defeated Kevin Curren 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4. At the 1985 World Badminton Championships in Calgary, Canada, Han Jian of China defeated Morten Frost of Denmark, 14-18, 15-10, 15-8.

The following is a statistical comparison of those matches.

Time:
    Tennis, 3 hours and 18 minutes. Badminton, 1 hour and 16 minutes.
Ball/Shuttle in Play:
    Tennis, 18 minutes. Badminton, 37 minutes.
Match Intensity:
    Tennis, 9 percent. Badminton, 48 percent.
Rallies:
    Tennis 299. Badminton, 146.
Shots:
    Tennis, 1,004. Badminton, 1,972.
Shots Per Rally:
    Tennis, 3.4. Badminton, 13.5.
Distance Covered:
    Tennis, 2 miles. Badminton, 4 miles.