To play badminton players use a racquet to hit a shuttle-cock back and forth over a net.
A shuttle-cock is a piece of cork with 16 overlapping goose feathers in it.
A shuttle weighs between 4.74 and 5.50 grams.
Two or four people at a time play a match.
Four people can play a badminton match. Two players on each side of the net. iStock images
A shuttle-cock is hit back and forth over a net. ©iStock Images
Rules and scoring for badminton
Players must not let the shuttle-cock hit the ground. If they do, the opposing player scores a point. In men's badminton the first player to reach 15 points wins the game. In women's matches the first to reach 11 points wins.
Watch a video about badminton at the Olympics
The Duke of Beaufort © Getty Images
History of badminton:
Did you know?
Badminton is named after the home of the Duke of Beaufort. Badminton House is in Gloucestershire, England, where the game was often played from 1873.
It is said that the Duke brought the idea of a version of the game back from India. There, it was called poona.
A badminton-like game was known in ancient Greece and Egypt and was known as battledore and shuttlecock. Two players, using tiny racquets, hit a feathered shuttlecock back and forth without letting the shuttlecock touch the ground.
Some people think that this sport may have begun in China as a shuttle-cock kicking game as long ago as 500BC.
