History of Badminton in Nigeria

The story

From Badminton House to the Olympics

The game of badminton had been in existence centuries ago as the game of battledore and shuttlecock played in Britain, Denmark, Sweden, China and Indonesia.

It has been in history as one of the Olympic sports game, badminton originated its name from Badminton House which is located in Gloucestershire, England, which is the ancestral home of the Duke of Beaufort where it was played in the 19th century from around the 1860s.

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) which was formed in 1934 is the governing body that oversees the affairs of badminton game all over the world, and the sport was first introduced in the Olympic Games as a demonstration sport in 1972 and as an exhibition sport in 1988.

At the 1992 Games, it became a full-medal Olympic sport, the competition was for men and women both in singles and doubles, and later after 4 years of the game being fully recognised, the mixed doubles was introduced in the 1996 Games.

Badminton comes to Nigeria

Badminton game was later developed and established in Nigeria by a body called Badminton Federation of Nigeria which is the governing body that manages and controls the game of badminton in Nigeria. It is ranked sixth in the country as the people’s most loved game. Nigeria in each year organises national badminton tournaments in order to promote the growth and interest of the game.

Just like Paralympics, there are also para-badminton players in Nigeria and in other countries that practice the sports. The para-badminton team of Nigeria has been doing exceedingly well too, in the 2018 Africa championships held from April 30th to May 4th, Nigeria team came back with 19 medals, which includes seven gold medals and five silver medals.

Oyebanji Bello won six medals, while some of the players won medals also at the Uganda international competition which includes one gold, three silver and three bronze.