Badminton was introduced as a demonstration sports in the 1958 Asian Games held in Tokyo, Japan. It became a regular sport in the next Asian Games of 1962.
The Badminton tournament in 1962 Asian Games was held at the Sports Palace Senayan, Jakarta, Indonesia. A total of six events were conducted including singles, doubles and team events for both men and women. In the 1966 Asian Games held at Bangkok, Thailand, Mixed Doubles format was added to the Badminton tournament. The format of Badminton tournaments in the Asian games consist of single elimination rounds.
Performance of major countries
China has dominated the Asian Games medal tally by far, they are sitting at the top with a total of 101 medals, 40 of which are gold. That said, Indonesia is not far behind with 91 medals which include 26 gold. They are followed by Malaysia, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong and India.
2018 Asian Games Badminton
The Badminton tournament at Asian Games 2018 will be held at Istora Gelora Bung Karno, Jakarta, Indonesia from 19 August to 28 August 2018. It will comprise of men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, men’s and women’s mixed doubles and team events.
Given the success of China and Indonesia in Badminton at the Asian Games, it is very likely that they will be favorites in the upcoming event. However, countries like Malaysia and Japan can also give a considerable amount of challenge.
India is rapidly emerging as a country in the Badminton scene and has yielded some of the best players over the past few years. Srikanth Kidambi is on the 6th rank in the world and HS Prannoy is 11th.
On the women’s side, P.V. Sindhu has made India proud on many occasions and is currently ranked at 3rd in the world, followed by Saina Nehwal on the 10th spot. The country has already shown its potential in the Commonwealth Games and can easily be a success in the Asian Games.
