Every week with Retronews, the BNF press site, a look back at a history of sports as told by the press of the time. This Saturday, on the occasion of the European badminton team championships, the debut of this sport in France at the dawn of the XXe century and its slow development.
On January 6, 1877, the special correspondent of Time in India says that badminton “Which is for the use of ladies is all the rage there” in the English community: “It’s played with rackets and shuttlecocks, and the ladies can show a lot of grace there. Any self-respecting bungalow is flanked by a small horizontal terrace arranged for badminton. And we will play with each other, from four in the evening to six o’clock generally. “
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November 19, 1908, the Dawn Tribune evokes “A new sport, new to us, at least because it was known in England before lawn tennis, of which it is not, moreover, not the rival, since it is only played in winter and in closed place. Do not try to discover a meaning in the syllables of this name: badminton. It is, quite simply, that of the property of the Duke of Beaufort, where it was originally played ”. History teaches that one fine day in 1873, officers returning from India meeting at the Duke’s home expressed their nostalgia for the poona, which they practiced in the colonies. For lack of a ball they used a champagne cork in which they stuck a few feathers: the first shuttlecock was born and badminton with it. We know of many ancestors, especially in China and Japan. But the most direct seems to be the game of shuttlecock, feminine, practiced from the XVIIIe century. Long considered in France as a beach game, badminton (and not “babinton” or “babington”) “Draws on the physical qualities of its practitioners and it also requires judgment, because it involves a tactic”, written the Tribune de l’Aube.
The first French club was born on October 31, 1907 in Dieppe. A year later, the Dieppe badminton club was officially inaugurated. Mr. Coche, mayor of the city, is the president, announces the car October 26. “The hall contains 5 courts each lit by incandescent electric lamps giving a light of 480 candles per court.”
Unjustified disdain
Members of the Dieppe club went on an evangelization mission to Paris in 1909, announced the press of February 5, 1909, in order to promote the creation of clubs in the capital. “All sportsmen, especially those who play tennis, should make it a point of honor to attend the exhibition”, advises the newspaper. If the sport is English, the ruffles “Are made exclusively in France, they are real small precision instruments whose dimensions and weight are carefully adjusted, the rackets have the same dimensions as those used for tennis but they weigh only 150 to 180 grams and are much more flexible ”.
In its edition of July 17, 1921, the review the Political and Literary Annals regrets that badminton is the object in France of a completely unjustified disdain. “He’s very popular in England, why is he ignored with us?” However, it has surprising resemblances to some of our traditional amusements where the grace of women of yesteryear was shown. [le fameux jeu de volant, ndlr].»The newspaper praises the simplicity of setting up a field and explains that “Excels at this game with the same flexibility, the same precision of judgment as in tennis. The force is superfluous there. The physical activity that is deployed in badminton is one of the best condoms against physical depression “.
On his website, the French Badminton Federation places its birth in 1930. However, Echo of Paris written on January 25, 1934: “Who would have thought that the old-fashioned ‘shuttlecock’ of yesteryear would become a sport and moreover an official sport? However, the fact is there: a French federation has just been formed. ” On studying the leading members of this new body, the newspaper concludes: “We clearly feel that tennis wanted to gain control of this new sport.” The author of the article does not hide that he was skeptical: “We admit that qualifying the game of shuttlecock as a sport made us smile.” But like a good journalist, he went into the field (it is the case to say it). And, racket in hand, he could only see that badminton was indeed a sport: “It requires sustained athletic effort. After a quarter of an hour we were literally swimming. You need quick reflexes, sudden impulses. Long blows alternate with cushioned blows. You have to constantly pay attention to the flight of the silky feathers, calculate your distance, anticipate the feint, ready to leap or retreat. “
April 22, 1934, Republican Lyon informs that the French team cup and the individual French championship are taking place in Paris. Five clubs, three from Paris and two from Lyon, participate in the first, around sixty players are aligned in the second.
“One of the fastest and most tiring sports”
April 5, the uncompromising announces that badminton will have its “Roland-Garros”: “The federation barely hatched, yet, like the tennis federation, will compete for its international championships.” “Our readers will have the opportunity to discover a sport that demands extraordinary flexibility and skill. […] All this suggests that badminton will acclimatize very well in France. However, it is not without interest to note that there are more than 200,000 practitioners across the strait (in England). ” And the newspaper concludes: “In short, a very interesting sporting event which, without doubt, will have the happiest influence on the development in France of a sport which is perfectly suited to the qualities of our race.”
L’Excelsior of April 8, 1935 reports the results of these internationals. It is an understatement to say that the subjects of George V dominated the debates: the final of the five events (singles men and women, doubles men and women, mixed doubles) could have been those of the championships of England.
A small photo of badminton in the day of March 2, 1938:
West Lightning of 6 November 1938 announces the creation, in Dinan, of a badminton club, “One of the fastest and most tiring sports there is”. Another advantage of this sport: “The costs involved in practicing it are lower than for any of the sports practiced on indoor courts. You can play with electric light as well as during the day. “
Continuation and end of the story. In 2018, the Breton player Julie Grall published a thesis entitled History of badminton in France (late XIXe century – 1979): practices and representations. In her summary, she writes: “Due to the lack of a large mass of players, the practices are not sufficiently visible to change the representations. Badminton is first and foremost a distinctive activity, reserved for a social elite. It was then organized as an alternative sport to tennis, until it was placed under the supervision of the FFLT [la fédération de tennis, ndlr] in 1944, without however succeeding in convincing the followers of the yellow ball. Internationally, the French badminton team is poor. Federal policies, without means, are ineffective and the absence of covered infrastructure does not provide the material conditions suitable for mass practice. These obstacles were gradually removed and led to the rebirth of the French Badminton Federation in 1979, but they were not enough to change representations, which were stronger than less visible practices. ”
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Its Olympic consecration, in 1992, definitively brought badminton out of the “beach game” department in which it was very unfairly and ignorantly stored, whereas anyone who has ever held a racket knows that the wind is the badger’s main enemy or badeuse, as the practitioners are called. The French badminton federation now has 188,000 licensees, including 68,000 women (according to the Ministry of Sports, figures as of July 30, 2019). It is one of those who have experienced the strongest growth in twenty years. Badminton is also the leading school sport in France.
As for those who, having reached the end of this article, still doubt that badminton is a real sport, these images should definitely convince them.
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