I don't see a place for my favourite sports and a few more that I follow and have been ignored up until now. Well, not anymore.
Will share some of the fun facts of respective sports as well as the current world rankings.
Badminton
- Badminton holds the title of the world’s fastest sport. Shuttlecocks can reach speeds exceeding 300 mph (482 km/h) . Currently the Worlds fastest smash(in a controlled environment) is 565 Km/h, which is held by Satwiksairaj Rankireddy of India.
- Badminton is the second most played sport globally, especially popular in Asia and Europe.(I doubt it, but it's posted on some sports website
)
- Badminton was previously known by various names like Shuttlecock, Hanetsuki, or Battledore. It officially adopted the name “badminton” at the Duke of Beaufort’s estate in 1873.
Top 10 rankings:
Squash
- The name "squash" was chosen because the sport was originally played with rubber balls, which became squashed when they hit walls. The name stuck through the years.
- It's been voted the healthiest sport to play by Forbes magazine based on cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, flexibility, muscular endurance, calories burned, and risk of injury.
- An hour of Squash can burn about 600-1000 calories. Only Swimming as an activity burns more calories per hour.
Top 10 rankings
Table Tennis
- During Cold War, it was table tennis that bridged the frozen gaps between China and the United States. In 1971, during the World Table Tennis Championships, two players from the opposing countries were kind to one another. Instead of seeing the other with suspicion, they exchanged gifts. This interaction brought Chinese Chairman Mao to extend an invitation to the U.S table tennis team. He gave them an all-expenses-paid trip to China. From there, ties between the United States and China were able to heal after many years of suspicions.
- in 1993, players Lisa Lomas and Jackie Bellinger set the fastest record of hitting the ball back and forth across the table. In 60 seconds, they hit back and forth 173 times. Almost 3 hits per second.
- China dominates the sport. Out of the 152 world championship titles since 1981, China has won 129 out of it. That's 129 out of 152 world championships!
Top 10 rankings:
Other racquet sports or similar sports are welcomed too like Paddle, Touch Tennis, Pickleball, Racquetball, Tennis etc.
