And I thought Medvedev was bad! At least he could hit the shuttlecock cleanly…
A new celebrity badminton player….Medvedev!
Who’d have thought the Russian president would know how to play? To be honest, he does have room for improvement but any support for our game is welcome!
More badminton videos here.
Never seen anything like this! A record breaking 10 shuttlecocks being juggled
Also see my article about record breaking badminton smashes.
A useful chart explaining the differences between the bewildering range of Yonex badminton rackets, from Paul Stewart’s excellent badminton coach website.
Just found a beautifully illustrated history of the shuttlecock on the Badminton Association of Thailand’s website.
It’s a bit of an epic, starting in 7th Century China, via Japan, India, Native America and Europe, finally finishing off in 19th Century Colonial India. I think it says that a lot of the material was unearthed by a Swiss researcher looking into the early history of football (it seems that shuttlecocks used to be kicked around in many ancient cultures).
However it’s all in Thai so I’m only getting the gist of it, thanks to Google translate. But the pictures are fantastic!
Entertaining list of badminton player stereotypes – doesn’t tally with my experience but has cute pictures!
Andrew Bettles for The New York Times (Shoes provided by Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
PULL TAB The finish of the top edge is asymmetrical. LOGO The signature Nike logo on the counterfeit shoe is more like a check mark than a swoosh. STITCHING Each stitch where the upper meets the sole is longer and less uniform.
For the highest quality counterfeits, “The only way to tell the difference between the real ones and ours is by the smell of the glue.” (apparently the fake shoes have a “heavy” glue smell).
Fascinating and detailed article from the New York Times the about Chinese counterfeit goods industry, the ambivalence of the Chinese authorities about the subject, and how real manufacturers are trying to combat the fakes.
It focuses on rip off Nike tennis shoes made in Putia, China; but the knockoff badminton racket industry must work in a similar way.
Badminton Doubles 