It isn’t really surprising that French badminton was the first to be alerted to a crisis of duck feather shortage in Chinese poultry farms that spiked up the prices of badminton shuttles. Badminton’s first citizens in France – those who literally were handed basic light racquets and rudimentary shuttles and urged to play the sport and took it up enthusiastically a few decades ago, in barns and rural schools – were students who formally studied farming.
When the Badminton World Championships return to Paris after 2010, those creating the din and atmosphere at the fancy Adidas Arena, are expected to be these original folk who travel from far-flung rural corners of France, but who have played the sport for years, with rustic fervour and a bohemian passion.
“I visited 8 Ministries of the government starting with Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Education, Employment, Diversity, besides Sport, to get a quarter of our 10 million Euro funding few years back, to spread badminton across France,” the French Federation of Badminton president Yohan Penel had explained before the Paris Olympics. “The most enthusiastic communities taking up badminton were those training to be farmers,” he explained the humble grassroots that make up the sport, in stark contrast to the urbane, affluent tennis crowd.
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“We’re not as rich as other disciplines like football or tennis. Ours might be the 20th federation in priorities! But it has been one of the most ambitious programs for social utility, and I can confidently say, almost every average French person under the age of 50 would have played badminton at local schools. There’s emotional connect, not elitist private club numbers.”
Migrants to France from all over – Asia and smaller east European countries like Popovs from Bulgaria and Africa, have been welcomed in this unpretentious sport, that’s played with fewest barriers.
Anyone who played at Paris or has turned up at the French Open, will vouch for the show that shouting, chuckling, chatty fans put up, quite unlike the sanitised etiquettes of Roland Garros in a more famous sport. “French badminton fans love to make noise. Plus a lot of Asians come to watch, so it’s a carnival atmosphere, though we have a soft spot for Indian players, especially Satwik and Chirag. They smile a lot, play freely and don’t look like it’s only for the money, and they are funny. There’s something about them that connects with the French crowds,” Penel had said, of the winners at the last French Open in 2024, though the Olympics had ended in heartbreak, a ‘triste’ – melancholy for the Indians.
But on either side of Covid, winning in 2019 and 2024 in France, Satwik-Chirag offered grand memories to the French audience. Covid, though, was when the sport made massive inroads in the country. “The thing with French badminton was, it was always about local clubs and something to do for the whole community. A lot of badminton would be played in sports halls, orchards, vineyards in rural areas but when these closed during Covid, politicians became aware of how much the sport meant to people and local associations became stronger. When people worried about energy supplies in winters, it was also about keeping these badminton centres going. The sport meant a connect,” Penel had explained.
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While France has representation in every category in singles and doubles this year and Alex Lanier has won a Super 750 since the Olympics, to be counted amongst elite like Thom Giquel and Delphine Delrue in mixed doubles, plus the Popov brothers Toma Jr and Christo, the sport retains its wider, humbled, egalitarian base in France.
“Ofcourse we want French players to get medals. But we are not just about creating champions. It’s a bit like France’s politics, we don’t worship personalities. And it’s different from football where it’s all about Messi, Neymar, who are great players. Badminton’s not the same, and we aren’t like the Danish either. We might not all be fans of the World No 1s, but still enjoy watching the sport. Here the crowd can get behind anyone from No 1 to 50 and become crazy fans of them, depending on the connect,” he had said.
The top French players too came up from the hyper localised club system. “Delphine started 15 years back from a local club, so did Thom – inter-club, local area meets, small towns.”
It didn’t stop the French from developing one of the most sophisticated training centres in Europe. While Fernando Rivas, coach of Carolina Marin served a stint there, Penel didn’t dither on bringing in all sorts of professionals. “I’m a mathematician,” he laughed about setting the store by exactitude. The sporting director in the last decade came from American Football, and he took up French badminton as a project – data analytics, top range video sports science, tactical, mental professionals, and those monitoring what to drink, eat, and recovery, plus doubles specialists from England.
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Some of the French contraptions, go a step further than oxygen chambers and gravity-channelling machines, to hasten recoveries from fractures and ligament tears. It’s cutting edge tech in injury rehab. It’s quite the candy store for sports scientists.
The French also run one of the most advanced programs in para badminton, devising ways to bridge the gap with the able-bodied, and para shuttlers can train alongside. The sport’s popularity as an inclusive sport has seen it develop innovations for all strata.
Because it’s low key, the entry barriers are nothing like expensive tennis. “Even when we took it to agricultural schools and colleges, we were clear we don’t want badminton to be elitist. People of different abilities, levels can play together and racquets and plastic shuttles were not that expensive. So even if the top goal was a high performance centre like Denmark, broadbasing was more important.”
Nearing the end of his term, there was another important matter to ensure. “It’s funny but nobody calls them “badminton players” in France. It’s ‘badiste’ (pronounced baa-deest). We are committed to introduce the word and register it as official in all our dictionaries,” he says. That’s yet another government department that received a delegation from a sport that wasn’t content with just that one showbiz event – Paris week for badminton.