Shuttlecock measuring: badminton’s new frontier
Stats in sports have gone from an action companion to entertainment in and of itself, and badminton is about to join the fun.
Starting with the India Open this weekend, the Badminton World Federation is implementing a speed-tracking system developed by Hawk-Eye, the same company that helped make tennis so statistics driven.
RELATED: Shuttlecock & balls: fastest moving objects in sports
The badminton shuttlecock has been recorded to travel at 493 kilometres per hour. In the men’s game during play it generally travels upward of 400 km/h, making it the fastest sport in the world. Now thanks to Hawk-Eye, the BWF will be able to add more statistics to make the argument for the incredible quickness required to compete in elite badminton.
Comparatively, the fastest tennis serve is recorded at 263.4 km/h, the hardest kick of a soccer ball is believed to be 210.8 km/h and the hardest shot in ice hockey has been tracked at 183.7 km/h.
RELATED: Canada’s Li wins Commonwealth badminton gold
Badminton season is similar to tennis, hopping from one tournament to the next each year. Canada’s top ranked player is Olympian Michelle Li, who is currently rated at number 17 in the world.
