The Monegasque Anti-Doping Committee at the A Roca Badminton Tournament

The illustration opposite taken from the famous work of Joseph Strutt "The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England" published in London in 1801, (note 1) reproduces a miniature of the XIV^e century which is the first European representation of the game known in England as "battledore and shuttle-cock" as shown in the following illustration and, in France, of shuttlecock, the ancestor of badminton as we know it today.

This game with its multi-thousand-year-old origins in Asia and the Americas has become the second most practiced sport in the world after football and achieved its recognition when, after being a demonstration sport at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, it officially entered the program of 1992 Games in Barcelona with singles and doubles events for men and women.

Its modern history was born in India where a game of rackets was played, called tomfool or Poonai, sometimes played with balls of wool, sometimes with shuttlecocks.

The British officers of the Indian Army first modified the characteristics of this game by replacing the ball with a champagne cork embellished with feathers before playing it in England at the castle of the Duke of Beaufort located in the town of Badminton from which it takes its name.

It was first codified by Major Forbes then stationed in Calcutta in an article entitled "A Handbook of Badminton, with rules for Playing the Game" which appeared in October 1873 in the London magazine "The Field". 

Three years later, in 1876, the English journalist Henry Jones published under the name Cavendish a work " The Games of Lawn Tennis and Badminton "In which a five-page article titled" The Anglo-Indian game of Badminton »Presented a fairly flexible body of rules concerning the number of players, the size of the playing field and the height of the net. Successively, the rules of the game will be formed until they are standardized thanks to the creation of the Badminotn Association at the initiative of the English major Seymour SC Dolby'Association. The codifcation of the rules and the structuring of this sport really took off with the organization of the first Badminton Association Tournament on April 4, 1899 in London on the courts of the London Scottish Drill Hall and the first All-England Championships (AEC ), equivalent for badminton to the Wimbledon tennis tournament, held in 1902 in Kent. In fact, it was in 1911 in Stewart M. Masey's book “Badminton” that the modern rules were really laid down, which were developed in the 1920s with the appearance of professional players from 1921.

Closer to home, it was in 1992 at the Barcelona Olympic Games that he officially entered the Olympic program, twenty years after making his debut as a demonstration sport at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich while mixed doubles made it its entry in 1996 at the Olympic Games in Atlanta.

First sport in Asia and second most practiced sport in the world after football, badminton is a fun but physically very demanding discipline with varied striking techniques, rapid learning but requiring a developed tactical sense and unwavering attention because the speed of the hits can go from 3 km / h during a cushioning to over 300 km / h for a smash, which is the highest speed of all racket sports. It is also practicable for all ages and all levels and is both easy to access and inexpensive.

The game consists of exchanging a shuttlecock over a net 1,524 m high in the center and 1,55 m at the level of the posts using a racket The goal being to drop the shuttlecock into the field of the opponent, on the other side of the net and within the limits defined on the ground.

To know all the rules see the site www.monacobadminton.com or those published in English by the World Badminton Federation (BWF) new name since September 24, 2006 of the former International Badminton Federation (IBF) on the site www.bwfcorporate.com.

In the Principality, the Monaco Badminton club was created in 2010, the date from which there was the necessary equipment for its practice, while the Monegasque Badminton Federation, of its initial name, the Monte Carlo Badminton Federation, has for its share was created on June 18, 2011.

On Saturday March 24, 2018, the Monegasque Badminton Federation organized its IV A Roca Tournament in the Espace Saint-Antoine in collaboration with the Monaco Badminton club.

This mixed doubles tournament authorized by the Ligue Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur and placed under the responsibility of Mr. Yoann Aubert took place according to the rules of the French Badminton Federation and the general competition regulations.

Open to all licensed players in France in the Minimes and Cadets categories of at least D8 level, Juniors, Seniors and Veterans, it has enabled a large number of matches to be held which are self-refereed knowing that any player could at any time call on the referee, Mr. Alain Fabre.

The rules of the Tournament providing in article 10 of the anti-doping rules (note 2), the Monegasque Anti-Doping Committee which has engaged since 2017 a fruitful collaboration both with the Monegasque Badminton Federation, affiliated to the World Badminton Federation, signatory of the World Anti-Doping Code which adopted in chapter 2 of its statutes a code of ethics and a complete set of anti-doping rules and is involved in a vast program in favor of integrity in sport known as " I am badminton, integrity campaign », That with the Monaco Badminton club, very involved in anti-doping prevention, particularly in schools, both chaired by Sylvie Bertrand, could not have been present at this event.

This is how the head of its Prevention, Education, Training Commission, Dr. M. Tonelli, who held her information stand, and the Chairman of the Committee were able to attend this eminently convivial event. In short: five grams of feather, tons of emotion and zero tolerance for doping!    

Notes

1 - extract from the new edition enriched and corrected in 1903 by J. Charles Cox posted at Methuen & Co 36 Essex Street WC London
2.- Tournament regulations:

Article 10 - Anti-doping rules:
Art. 10.1 The use and use of doping products or substances are prohibited.
Art. 10.2 The list of prohibited products is published every year.
Art. 10.3 Any player undergoing medical treatment must present a prescription to the Referee before his first match.