One of the things I like about China the most is the fact that almost everyone has a badminton racket, and you will easily find someone to play with almost anywhere.

Chinese universities hold badminton courts; stationery stores sell shuttlecocks; and if you wish to engage in some physical exercises, chances are that one of your Chinese friends will willingly join you in a badminton session.

Badminton = 羽毛球 yǔmáoqiú

Badminton court = 羽毛球场 yǔmáoqiúchǎng

Badminton net = 羽毛球网 yǔmáoqiú wǎng

To play badminton = 打羽毛球 dǎ yǔmáoqiú

Can you play badminton? = 你会不会打羽毛球？Nǐ huì bù huì dǎ yǔmáoqiú?

羽毛球is played indoor on a rectangular 羽毛球场, with a 羽毛球网 placed in its center. But 羽毛球 can also be played outside. If it’s not rainy or windy you and your partner can find a relatively flat ground and just start hit the shuttlecock. The racket and the shuttlecock are light, and the net is not necessary if you are playing for fun. Roaming around Chinese schools and universities, you will probably see couples of students 打羽毛球 that way.

现代羽毛球运动诞生在英国。

Xiàndài yǔmáoqiú yùndòng dànshēng zài yīngguó.

Modern badminton was born in England.

Modern badminton was born in England in the 19^th century, but games employing shuttlecocks have been played for centuries across Europe and Asia. Although versions of shuttlecock had been played in the middle kingdom much earlier, China (or any other Asian country) wasn’t one of the founding members of the International Badminton Federation. Nowadays, though, Asian nations have become dominant in the international competition of 羽毛球. In the past few decades, China became the great force on the badminton field.

奥运会 àoyùnhuì = Olympic Games

比赛  bǐsài = match, competition

羽毛球在1992年奥运会上被列为正式比赛项目。

Yǔmáoqiú zài 1992 nián àoyùnhuì shàng bèi liè wèi zhèngshì bǐsài xiàngmù.

Badminton was listed as an official competition in the 1992 Olympics games.

Badminton became an official medal sport starting at the 1992 Summer Olympics. In the last Olympic badminton tournaments in 2016, China sent 15 badminton athletes to participate. More than any other country who played on the badminton court. China was the only country to win 2 gold medals in badminton that Olympics. 2016 wasn’t an exception for China: the country gained the most gold medals in badminton in the four preceding Olympics games. The Chinese team achieved the highest number of gold medals in badminton in five Olympics games out of the seven held since 1992.

One of the Chinese gold medalists of 2016 was Chen Long (谌龙). Chen began to compete professionally in 2007, but won his first Olympic gold medal in the men’s singles badminton tournament only nine years later. When realizing he won, Chen wasn’t able to hide his excitement:

Badminton is an intensive sport. It requires agility, strength, speed and coordination. If you want to get in shape, to tone your body and to clear your mind, all while having fun, playing badminton is the answer. And if you want to play better use those tips:

如果想把球打好的话，肯定是得花不少时间锻炼。

Rúguǒ xiǎng bǎ qiú dǎ hǎo dehuà, kěndìng shì děi huā bu shǎo shíjiān duànliàn.

If you want to play well, you must spend quite time exercising.

羽毛球基本的姿势是右脚比左脚前半部。

Yǔmáoqiú jì běn de zīshì shì yòu jiǎo bǐ zuǒ jiǎo qiánbàn bù.

Badminton basic posture is the right foot half step in front of the left foot.

打完以后你不算在哪个位置你都要迅速地回来。

Dǎ wán yǐhòu nǐ bù suàn zài nǎge wèizhì nǐ dōu yào xùnsù de huílái.

No matter where you are on the court, always come back to the start position immediately after each shot.

To practice Chinese badminton related vocabulary watch this episode of Super Wings in Chinese.

好好学习天天向上

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