Air Badminton arrives on the Rock

Launched by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) in 2019, Air badminton finally arrives on the shores in Gibraltar this June.

The Gibraltar Badminton Association last night announced its first ever Air Badminton Tournament in conjunction with Atleet. This is going to be held on Saturday 5th June at the Europa Pool beach volleyball courts as from 10am. There are 2 categories that players will be able to participate in: Doubles Tournaments and Triple tournaments.
In May 2019 the Badminton World Federation (BWF) and HSBC jointly launched a new outdoor game, AirBadminton, and a new outdoor shuttlecock, the AirShuttle, at a global launch ceremony outside the Tianhe Gymnasium in Guangzhou, China.
AirBadminton is described as an ambitious new development project in partnership with HSBC, BWF’s Global Development Partner, designed to create opportunities for people of all ages and ability to play badminton on hard, grass and sand surfaces in parks, gardens, streets, playgrounds, and beaches around the world.
The project had been five years in the making before the launch, starting with a vision to develop a new outdoor shuttlecock with increased durability, stability and wind resistance to allow people to have a more positive experience of badminton outdoors.

BWF President and Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games men’s singles gold medallist Poul-Erik Høyer officiated the launch and said AirBadminton provides a pathway for increased global participation in the sport while opening up doors for a new, highly attractive form of competitive badminton.
“This is a momentous occasion for badminton. Strategically, AirBadminton will allow us to fulfil our overall objective of putting a badminton racket in the hands of as many people as possible,” he said at the time.
“Given that most people’s first experience with badminton comes in an outdoor environment, we are now making it easier for everyone to access the sport through a new outdoor game and new shuttlecock, the AirShuttle.
“In the future, we see AirBadminton as an exciting, new, energetic version of the sport. Overall, the aim is to inspire more people to play more badminton in more places.”

Badminton is a popular, fun and inclusive sport with more than 300 million active players globally. In fact, just one hour of badminton can burn more than 450 calories
New research even shows that racket sports with a strong and enriched social connectedness such as badminton can extend longevity by as much as nine years.
An underlying objective of AirBadminton is to promote these health and social benefits of badminton by providing more positive badminton experiences to more people in more places.
As such, the BWF has been working with leading sports manufacturers to mass produce and roll out the AirShuttle. The eventual aim was for the shuttlecock to be played in winds up to 12km per hour.
The new outdoor game is also played on new court dimensions, making it more suitable to play in outdoor environments; on hard, grass and sand surfaces around the world.
For more information, go to the AirBadminton website: www.education.bwfbadminton.com/airbadminton