BADMINTON IN

ROMANIA
by Remus Raita

INTRODUCTION TO BADMINTON

QUICK FACTS
Federation founded: 1990
Players: 250
Clubs: 20
BEC member since: 1990
Most important
tournament:
The Romanian International
(BanuInvest International
Championships) part of the
EBU circuit.
Current WTR rank: 98th

The real ancestor of the shuttlecock game appeared in Europe in the 17 th

century under the name of jeu volant meaning the game of the flyer. In the
beginning it was practiced in a restricted circle, only in the royal courts,
although the rococo clothing style back then was influencing the dynamism
and the movement amplitude in a negative way. It is said that Queen
Christina of Sweden (1626-1689) was a very good player, training everyday
just like professionals do nowadays, in order to practice a sure game, with
powerful and precise shots with which she could beat even male opponents.

BADMINTON IN ROMANIA
Badminton, only known in Romania for a relatively short time, is fairly
popular among the masses mainly because it doesnt require a complex
setting and complex equipment.
The first attempts to create official badminton competitions were made by
the Youth House of Trgu Mure in December 1975. At the 30 th of December
Cup, 16 local schools took part.
More and more youngsters and seniors started taking part in this game. As a
result, more badminton clubs were opened across the country in cities like:
Reia, Cluj-Napoca, Bucharest, Braov, Timioara, Baia Mare etc.
The first international duel took place in Trgu Mure in December 1979
between the children and youth teams of Trgu Mure town and Zsombo
town the Hungarian youth champion at that point.
The Romanian Badminton Federation (FRB Federaia Romn de
Badminton) was founded on 29th of January 1990 only weeks after the fall
of the communist regime. From that point on, the internal competitions were
organized following a set calendar.

Romanian national team with an average age of 18

At this moment, the internal competitions organized on a regular basis are

split into different categories and ages such as: Men Single, Women Single ,
Men Double, Women Double, Mixed Double under the following age
categories: U11, U13, U15, U17, U19, U23, Seniors and Veterans.

INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE
Romania was represented only by 1 player at the World Championships in Birmingham (1992) and Barcelona Olympic
Games (1992). In 2000 our players participated for the first time in the U19 World Championships both in the singles and
the doubles.
In 2002 the senior squad participated in the World Championships from which the double women team proceeded to play
in the Olympics qualifying stage. Unfortunately the lack of financial support led to a narrow miss in qualifying further.
Romania regularly took part in the Balcanic Championships where it always had good results for all age groups (apart
from U11) in both singles and doubles. In 2008 Romania hosted these championships which featured players from
Turkey, Greece, Moldova, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania, our team winning 9 medals.

PROMOTION IN SCHOOLS
Through the good collaboration with the Education, Research and Innovation Ministry, badminton was introduced as a
School Olympics discipline.
In order to sustain this as long as possible, the federation is supporting the participant pupils and their teachers with
diverse sport equipment.

SHUTTLE TIME
The Romanian Badminton Federation began last year the implementation of the Shuttle Time project, a concept created
by the Badminton World Federation. The pilot project was firstly implemented in Timi oara the Romanian capital of
badminton where over 400 children joined, with more kids from all around the country joining within the following
weeks. To this day, more than 90 schools from over 20 counties are involved in the project.

PERFORMANCE CENTRE FOR YOUTHS

The Romanian Badminton Federation has the possibility of hostingour players in their own performance centre, providing
them with trained coaches and staff, all sporting facilities needed, as well as accomodation and food facilities.

BADMINTON FOR ALL

Since its a sport that can be played at any age and by both genders, and observing that theres a great demand from people
from all walks of life to practice it for leisure, a competition for companies and corporations as well as a a competition
for mass-media organisation have been included in the federations yearly calendar.

References:
http://www.badminton.ro/
http://badmintoneurope.com/CMS/?cmsid=239&pageid=5725