Badminton |
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Prakash Padukone
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| Badminton is an indoor racket and shuttle game played by two or four players across a net. | ||
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Badminton
Court The court is laid out on a level and smooth surface, wood and composite flooring being common. The floor must not be slippery. A sketch of the court is given below: |
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| (a) A minimum of 2 meters (6.56 ft) clear space is essential on all four sides. | ||
| (b) The markings are in white paint or by white tape and must be 4 cm (1½ in) wide. | ||
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(c) For
doubles play, the entire court is used but for singles the court is 91
cm (3 ft) narrower on the sides. |
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| Net | ||
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This is made of cord with a mesh of 1.5-2 cm (5/8-3/4 in). White tape should be doubled over the top and strained over the top of the post. The net is 1.55 m (5 ft. 1 in) high at the post and 1.524 m (5 ft) high in the center. |
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| Shuttles | ||
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There are two types of shuttles - one of feather and the other of nylon. The base of the feather shuttle is of cork which is completely rounded except at the top which is covered with thin white kid leather. This base is 2.5-2.9 cm (1 - 1 and 1/ 8 inches) in diameter. 16 white goose feathers 6.1-7.9 cm (2½ to 2¾ in) long are fixed firmly into the top of the cork. They have a spread of 58-68 mm (2½ - 2 5/8 in) at the top and weigh from 4.74 to 5.51 gm or 73 to 85 grains. A nylon
shuttle is usually of one piece and the feathers are replaced by what is
generally known as the skirt. |
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| Racket | ||
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The modem badminton racket is made of either hickory carbon alloys or steel. It has about 16 horizontal and vertical strands of thin gut strung tightly. It is 680 mm long and the head is 230 mm in width. Though there is no stipulation in the laws as to its dimensions or composition, a racket weighs 92 to 156 gm (3 ¼ to 5 ½ oz). |
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| Rules of the Game | ||
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The following are badminton rules in a nutshell: |
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| 1. Service in badminton must be delivered underhand. There are four types of service - short, high, drive and flick. | ||
| 2. The server must stand with both feet within his service court and neither foot should touch the line. | ||
| 3. The receiver may stand anywhere within his service court. | ||
| 4.Some part of the feet must be in contact with the floor at the same spot, until the shuttle is hit. | ||
| 5. Who will serve first is decided by tossing a coin. | ||
| 6. Only the server can add to his/ her score. | ||
| 7. If the receiving side wins a rally, the score remains static but a service change takes place. | ||
| 8. In doubles, two partners serve consecutively except that at the starting of the game only one service is allowed. After both lose the service, the service changes to the other team. | ||
| 9. A side loses the rally if: (a) the shuttle falls outside the boundary; (b) a service fault is committed; (c) the shuttle is held on the racket. | ||
| 10. Double bit - This is a term commonly used when a shuttle is struck by two distinct touches of the racket. Until 1968, any double hit was a fault. But in 1968, the rule of double hit was changed to invalidate a hit only when a player made two strokes at the shuttle. | ||
| 11. Wood shot - This term is used for mis-hits when the shuttle is totally or partially struck by the frame of the racket. Clean hits off the frame of the racket or the wood shot is valid since 1963. | ||
| 12. A 'let' occurs only as a result of any unforeseen or accidental hindrance such as a shuttle from a neighbouring court interfering with play or a shuttle being caught in or held on the net. When a let occurs, the whole rally is replayed. | ||
| 13. If the score reaches 13-all, the player or pair, which first reaches 13 points, has to give the defending player/pair the option of 'setting' the game for a further 5 points or of continuing the game only upto 15. If the game is extended by 5 points, then the score is called 'love-all' and the first side to score 5 points wins the game. If 14-all, then the game may be completed straight or extension of 3 points may be allowed. | ||
| 14. The women's singles game is of 11 points. If a game reaches 9-all, it may be set for 3 points and at 10-all, for 2 points. | ||
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15. In the
third game, the opponents change ends half way through it, i.e., when
one side's score reaches 8 in a game of 15 and 6 in a game of 11. (Courtesy - The Hinduja Sports Foundation) |
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| Prakash Padukone | ||
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| At the Commonwealth games in 1978, he was the gold medallist. 1980 was his best year, in the months leading up to the All-England, he dominated the top European players, consistently beating Fleming Delfs, Morten Frost Hansen and Svend Pri (all All-England champions themselves), and won the Danish Open and the Swedish Open. Seeded third at the All-England, he beat Morten Frost in the semifinals and Liem Swie King in the finals in straight games. He lost in the quarterfinals at the World Cup that year. | ||
| In 1981 at the All-England Championships, he was seeded only sixth although he was the defending champion. But he came back to beat the legendary Rudy Hartono in 3 games in the semifinals. In the finals, he was pitted against Liem Swie King again, but this time King beat him in 3 games. | ||
| In 1982 Padukone turned pro, and moved to Denmark because of the better training facilities. | ||
| He retired from competitive play in 1991. | ||
| These days Prakash runs an academy for training badminton players in Bangalore. | ||
| Major Achievements: | ||
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