Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players (singles) or two opposing pairs (doubles), who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their opponents' half of the court. Each side may only strike the shuttlecock once before it passes over the net. A rally ends once the shuttlecock has struck the floor.
The shuttlecock (or shuttle) is a feathered projectile whose unique aerodynamic properties cause it to fly differently than the balls used in most racquet sports; in particular, the feathers create much higher drag, causing the shuttlecock to decelerate more rapidly than a ball. Shuttlecocks have a much higher top speed, when compared to other racquet sports. Because shuttlecock flight is affected by wind, competitive badminton is played indoors. Badminton is also played outdoors as a casual recreational activity, often as a garden or beach game.
Lin Dan (Chinese: 林丹; pinyin: Lín Dān; born October 14, 1983 in Longyan, Fujian) is a professional badminton player from China. He is a four-time world champion, five time All England champion and the reigning Olympic champion. Widely considered to be the greatest badminton player of all time, by the age of 28 Lin had completed the "Super Grand Slam", having won all nine major titles in world badminton: Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup, Thomas Cup, Sudirman Cup, Super Series Masters Finals, All England Open, Asian Games, and Asia Championships, becoming the first and only player to achieve this feat.
He has been nicknamed "Super Dan" by his fans.
In his early years, Lin was encouraged to learn to play piano by his parents, but chose to play badminton at the age of five. He joined the sports troop of the People's Liberation Army at the age of 13 and has been part of China's national badminton team since 2001 when he was 18.
On April 10, 2008, he created controversy when he struck coach Ji Xinpeng in front of his teammates and reporters during the warm-up tournament ahead of the Thomas Cup. The incident was reportedly triggered by Lin being unhappy with Ji's starting lineup for the tournament.
Datuk Lee Chong Wei (simplified Chinese: 李宗伟; traditional Chinese: 李宗偉; pinyin: Lǐ Zōngwěi; born October 21, 1982 in Georgetown, Penang) is a professional badminton player from Malaysia who resides in Bukit Mertajam. Lee won the silver medal in the 2008 Olympic Games, thus becoming the first Malaysian to reach the final of the men's singles event and ending Malaysia's Olympic medal drought since the 1996 Games. This achievement also earned him the title Datuk, and a description by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak as a national hero.
As a singles player, Lee was ranked first worldwide on August 21, 2008. He is the third Malaysian men's singles shuttler after Rashid Sidek and Roslin Hashim to achieve such a ranking (since official rankings were first kept in the 1980s), and is the only Malaysian shuttler to hold the ranking for more than two weeks.
Lee is one of the most accomplished Malaysian badminton players having won two All-England championships. However, he is still searching for his first Olympic Games, World Championship and Asian Games titles as the world number 1.
Muhammad Ahsan Dar (Kashmiri: محمد احسن ڑار), (born 1960 in Sariwarpora Pattan, Baramulla, Jammu and Kashmir) is the founder and former head of the Hizbul Mujahideen and school teacher from Pattan Baramulla. He went across the Line of Control to Pakistan in 1988. After completing his training there he came back to Kashmir Valley in 1990 to start the secession struggle for Kashmir. An ethnic Kashmiri, he belonged to the Dar tribe.
Hendra Setiawan (born in Pemalang, Central Java, August 24, 1984) is a male badminton player from Indonesia and one of the world's leading doubles players.
In 2005, with Markis Kido, he won men's doubles at the Asian Badminton Championships and the Indonesia Open. In 2006, they also won the Jakarta Satellite, the Hong Kong Open and the 2006 China Open (badminton)China Open after defeating China's Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng, the 2006 IBF (BWF) world champions in the finals.
2007 was a big year for Setiawan and Kido. They were crowned world champions after defeating Jung Jae-sung and Lee Yong-dae from South Korea, 21–19 and 21–19, at the World Championship finals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They also captured the China Super Series after defeating China 's Guo Zhengdong and Xie Zhongbo and the BWF World Cup Invitation after beating Malaysia's Mohd. Fairuzizuan Mohd. Tazari and Lin Woon Fui at Yiyang, Hunan. In July they were runners-up at the China Masters Super Series, this time losing to Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng, 15–21, 16–21. They won the Chinese Taipei Grand Prix Gold event in September over the Danish veterans Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen. In December they won the Hong Kong Super Series after overcoming two of Indonesia's "all-time" greats Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan 21–12, 18–21, 21–13 in the final. At the 2007 Southeast Asian Games in Thailand, they helped Indonesia win the men's team gold medal, and won men's doubles gold in the individual events after defeating Hendri Kurniawan Saputra and Hendra Wijaya, Indonesian-born players who represented Singapore.