BC WINTER GAMES
Badminton
At the BC Winter Games, badminton athletes are under 15 years of age. The competition includes singles, doubles, mixed doubles, a team event and a skills competition. The team event is unique and has each zone team choose a line-up of athletes to play singles and both disciplines of doubles. The teams with the best records proceed to an elimination cross-over to determine the final standings.
Badminton BC is the provincial organization responsible for the sport in the province. BC Games alumni have been very successful on the international stage, including Anna Rice (1996 BC Games) who is a five-time National Champion and competed at the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games. Tobias Ng (2000 BC Games) was the gold medalist at the 2011 Pan Am Games and competed in the mixed doubles event for Canada at the 2012 Olympic Games.
Badminton was derived from a traditional game of Battledore and Shuttlecock that dates back centuries. The modern game has its roots in India where British officers played a similar game and then brought it to England where it was further developed and rules were set out. Today Badminton is played around the world and has the highest global participation rate of any indoor sport. Badminton was a demonstration sport at the 1972 Olympics and earned full medal status in 1992 for singles and doubles play, with mixed doubles added in 1996.
Scoring in badminton has recently switched from service point scoring to rally point scoring where the player or team who wins the rally gains a point and also serves the next rally. Scoring is to 21 points for all games; however, players must win by a two-point margin. A match is the best two out of three games.
