Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 2, 1990 TAG: 9007020032
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A trip to the badminton venue at the Virginia CorEast State Games will reveal a sport very much unlike the game played in backyards across America.
Head to the Bast Center this Saturday and one will see slams, smashes, clears, and drop shots. Not to mention shuttlecocks whistling through the air at 150 mph.
"It's the kind of thing where you really can't believe it until you come see it," says Warren Emerson, the State Games' badminton coordinator.
"When people can see what the sport of badminton can really be like, it's very appealing. It's got it all."
No doubt, badminton played by top-level competitors bears no resemblance to the slow-moving game at family picnics.
"The best way I can compare it," says Emerson, "is the comparison to the volleyball you might see in the backyard and the volleyball you might see in Olympic competition in terms of athleticism.
"It's certainly the fastest-moving racket sport in the world. A good player will hit a smash at 150 mph. A good singles rally will go 20, 30, 40 shots, with the bird going over the net every half-second. It's an extremely fast-moving game."
Emerson should know. He is the editor of the United States Badminton Association's national magazine.
Like most everybody else, the Arlington resident had no idea what the real game entailed until he went to watch a friend play in a tournament in 1975 at Swarthmore (Pa.) College.
"I was just astounded at the things they were doing," Emerson says. "The next day I picked up a racket, started played, and I haven't put it down yet.
"It's really an unknown sport that has really terrific athletic and recreational appeal. It's got all the elements except we get no publicity."
Emerson has his fingers crossed that the rest of the country will soon get hooked, too. Badminton will premier as a full medal sport in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.
"The chances are better now than they have ever been in the past since the sport has made the Olympics. That's the big boost we're going to get nationally. We're getting some money to support our athletes and competition as well as much-needed exposure.
"We need a two-pronged thing in order for badminton to really take off in this country. We need a star . . . a U.S. player to do well internationally to get the press. Also, we need to improve our grass-roots program. We need to introduce the game to high schools and teachers. Badminton is probably taught in every school in Virginia, but those teachers haven't seen the sport played like it really can be."
Some 25 players, including a half-dozen or so from Southwest Virginia, have signed up for the State Games. Ignatius Rusli, a 24-year-old Indonesian who has been living in northern Virginia for a year, is by far the best player entered, Emerson says.
"If [Rusli] could get serious training in this area, in my opinion, he could be the best player in America," Emerson says.
Because of the limited number of entries, Emerson said the competition may be wrapped up on Saturday instead of the original Saturday-Sunday listing. Singles begin at 9 a.m. Saturday; doubles at 1 p.m.
The State Games' fencing competition will be held Saturday and Sunday at Hollins College.
Team competition starts Saturday at 9 a.m., with four teams competing in each event. Individual competition begins at 9 a.m. Sunday.
Fencing is the outgrowth of dueling, of using a sabre scientifically against an opponent.
by CNB