Sindhu’s sport had its origins right here in Pune. It was called Poonai then…

Image source: Wikipedia

You’ve heard this before. But it’s possibly erased from memory. Or you just dismissed it as an outlandish claim made by a relative or a GK nerd in school or college. But, it’s true. Badminton had its origins right here in Pune. Our very own Pune.

We source our information from: http://badmintonclubs.org/content/badminton-history which notes: The beginnings of badminton can be traced to mid-19th century British India, where it was created by British military officers stationed there. Early photographs show Englishmen adding a net to the traditional English game of battledore and shuttlecock. Being particularly popular in the British garrison town Poona, the game also came to be known as Poonai.  Initially, balls of wool were preferred by the upper classes in windy or wet conditions, but ultimately the shuttlecock stuck. This game was taken by retired officers back to England where it developed and rules were set out.

Picture sourced from 'An Illustrated History - From Ancient Pastime to Olympic Sport'
Picture sourced from ‘An Illustrated History – From Ancient Pastime to Olympic Sport’

As early as 1860, Isaac Spratt, a London toy dealer, published a booklet, Badminton Battledore – a new game, but unfortunately no copy has survived.

The new sport was definitively launched in 1873 at the Badminton House, Gloucestershire, owned by the Duke of Beaufort. During that time, the game was referred to as “The Game of Badminton,” and the game’s official name became Badminton.

Until 1887, the sport was played in England under the rules that prevailed in British India. The Bath Badminton Club standardised the rules and made the game applicable to English ideas.

There’s some more info we sourced from http://www.badminton-information.com/history-of-badminton.html:  In the 5th century BC, the people in china then played a game called ti jian zi. A direct translation from this word ‘ti jian zi’ is kicking the shuttle. As the name suggest, the objective of the game is to keep the shuttle from hitting the ground without using hand. Whether this sport has anything to do with the History of Badminton is up for debate. It was however the first game that uses a Shuttle.

About five centuries later, a game named Battledore and Shuttlecock was played in China, Japan, India and Greece. This is a game where you use the Battledore (a paddle) to hit the Shuttlecock back and forth. By the 16th century, it has become a popular game among children in England. In Europe this game was known as jeu de volant to them. In the 1860s, a game named Poona was played in India. This game is much like the Battledore and Shuttlecock but with an added net. The British army learned this game in India and took the equipments back to England during the 1870s. In 1873, the Duke of Beaufort held a lawn party in his country place, Badminton. A game of Poona was played on that day and became popular among the British society’s elite. The new party sport became known as “the Badminton game”. In 1877, the Bath Badminton Club was formed and developed the first official set of rules.

There are differing accounts of whether the game was called on Poona or Poonai, but according to the information we have, it was called Poonai. So we will go with that for now, until we hear more.

Meanwhile, like most in the rest of the country, we are going to be sitting glued to our television screens where 10th seed Pusarla Venkata Sindhu takes on top-seeded and World #1 Carolina Marin of Spain.