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South African Badminton
"When badminton was accepted into the Barcelona Olympic Games it showed that there was an acceptance of my sport internationally" said Rhonda Cator.
The international acceptance of badminton has led to badminton being a sport played often in Africa. South Africa has been one of several African countries to become interested in badminton. It is being played throughout South Africa.
The South African Badminton championships have become more popular over the years. This is leading to badminton getting more attention in South Africa. In addition, the South African badminton teams are also now becoming better and more competitive with other countries that play badminton.
South Africa badminton has a long history. The South African Badminton Championships started in 1937. There have been several good South African badminton players. Alan Parsons considered by many to be one of the greatest South African badminton players of all time. He won in total 24 South African national titles.
He also won the German open singles title in 1965 and Irish Open singles title in 1967. Likewise, there are some good badminton players currently representing South Africa. Chantel Botts and Michelle Edwards of South Africa competed in 2004 Summer Olympics in women's doubles. In addition, Stewart Carson and Dorian James of South Africa also competed in 2004 Summer Olympics.
Badminton is played in several African countries. But, South Africa is considered by many as the best at badminton in Africa. South Africa dominated in the last All African Championships that were held in 2007 in Algiers, Algeria. They ended the tournament winning eight medals.
They also won the team silver medal. They unexpectedly lost 3-2 in finals of the team event to Seychelles. But, they are still considered the most dominate African team in badminton. In addition, they were the only African team to participate in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
Badminton in South Africa has been slowly growing in popularity. However, it still is not one of the most popular sports in South Africa. The most popular sports in South Africa is cricket, rugby, soccer and boxing. Soccer is extremely popular in South Africa. They have a long line of outstanding achievements in soccer.
This helped South Africa be chosen as the home of the 2010 World Cup. This will be first time that a world cup is ever held in an African country. Rugby has a large following in South Africa. They have an excellent Rugby team. South African's rugby team is currently ranked number two in the International Rugby Board (IRB) World Rankings.
South Africa's badminton is continually getting better. Their ultimate goal is to medal at the Olympic games. The badminton confederation of Africa has launched a project called "Road to London". It involves badminton players age 17 to 23 from seven African countries including South Africa.
They hope this will better prepare them for the Olympics. They're never has been an African country that has medaled in Olympics in badminton. But, South Africa is trying to be the first.
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