Badminton in the world

Badminton in the world

Badminton quickly spread from England to the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and made big strides in Europe. Although men first played it, women became enthusiastic about it, and interest now is about equally divided.

The first All-England championship for men was held in 1899 and in 1900 the pioneer tournament for women was arranged. These, however, were regarded as "unofficial" and 1904 marked the beginning of the official All-England matches. The growth of badminton's popularity in the British Isles is evidenced by the fact that in 1920 there were 300 badminton clubs in England, about 500 in 1930, and over 9,000 in the British Isles soon after the World War II.