Badminton stakes claim as fastest racquet sport

BEIJING: Badminton can firmly stake its claim to be the worlds fastest racket sport, with smashes reaching speeds of up to 332 kph (207 mph) so far at testing during the Sudirman Cup in Beijing.

The International Badminton Federation is conducting speed trials for the first time at one of its major events, with microwave sensors recording the speed of smashes on the main court at the world mixed team championships.

Chinese doubles star Fu Haifeng has clocked the fastest smash of 332 kph so far, while world number two Kenneth Jonassen of Denmark has recorded the fastest smash for a singles player at 298 kph (185 mph).

And with womens singles shuttler Huang Sui hitting at 257 kph (160 mph), tennis star Andy Roddicks world-record serve of 246 kph (153 mph) is some way off of badmintons blistering pace.

"The speed and agility of these athletes is just amazing," said Alex Loccisano, whose Melbourne-based company is providing the specialist sensors and software, which have also been used at major cricket and tennis events.

"Badminton can certainly consider itself to be the worlds fastest racket sport, and at this rate, will force this speed testing technology to move forward pretty quickly in order to keep up."

The equipment is currently only able to record speeds of up to around 350 kph (217 mph), so todays star shuttlers are already pushing the limits.

China are favourites to win back the title they lost to South Korea two years ago in Eindhoven.