Photo Courtesy of Abhishek Kotha

The progress of the GMU Badminton Club in competitions, tournaments and events

BY VALENTINA FALA, STAFF WRITER

First founded in 2012, the GMU Badminton Club has been registered as a sports club ever since. From Abhishek Kotha, the club president, rebuilding the student organization’s activities, there are approximately 100 members registered and competing in multiple tournaments during the year.

Kotha started as a freshman with no executive position, becoming the vice president in his sophomore year and president for two consecutive years. He realized that not everyone wants to be a professional in badminton.

Membership is divided into two types: recreational use and competition. The competitive membership is $35 a semester and includes training with coaches based on skill level and the opportunity to compete in tournaments.

But what is badminton in the first place?

Badminton is a racket sport divided into two main categories: singles and doubles. The court for the singles is smaller, while the one for the doubles includes the outside box. The player or team who wins the best of three matches wins the game.

There are 21 points per match. If both competitors get to 20 points, whoever gets two points on top of that wins. The count stops at 30 points per the Badminton World Federation’s (BWF) regulation that most teams follow, including the GMU Badminton Club. 

“I think badminton is one of [the fastest], if not the fastest, racket sports in the world,” Kotha said. “There is a lot that goes into your reaction time but also in your legs since they need to be really strong and agile. A lot of the movement is on your forefoot.” 

In the club, skill level is classified from A to D. A is professional, B is advanced, C is intermediate and D is for beginners. With the improvements of every member and the sense of community, the level of competition is increasing so that the club can move to higher levels.

“Racket sports like tennis are more arm-based but here [badminton] is more wrist-based,” Kotha said. “In some ways, it is similar to table tennis but here, there is a lot more precision in the way you hit the bird.” Badminton focuses on qualities like timing, coordination and specifically footwork, among others.

Once a year, during the first or second week of November, the club hosts the GMU Open, inviting alumni, members and various colleges, including Duke University, University of Maryland, Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Virginia, Virginia Tech and occasionally Liberty University and University of Pennsylvania. Participants play in men’s singles and doubles, women’s singles and doubles and mixed doubles. 

GMU Open is hosted for fundraising every year, especially to support the expenses that fuel events for members. 

“In the fall, we travel maybe three or four times. In the spring, we travel up to six or seven times, which includes a full weekend,” Kotha said. An individual can play in a maximum of three events but the cost for one event is $35, with $30 for the second and $25 for the third, making full events cost up to $90 per person.

In addition to the GMU Open, the club also participates in collegiates, where members compete not as individuals but as a team. Team division placement is based on fall results, with Division 1 being the most advanced. Currently, the GMU Badminton Club plays in Division 2A after placing third in Division 2 during their fall season.

“Open tournaments are different from collegiate…The collegiate is held once a semester, it’s our version of nationals,” Kotha said. “There is a regional collegiate in the fall and we compete in the Mid-Atlantic division but there’s Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, South, Midwestern and Californian.”

The GMU Badminton Club promotes competitive and recreational members by providing training and events for both, including through partnerships and collaborations with other clubs and is always looking to expand to new members.

For those interested in practicing badminton, visit the club at the RAC on Mondays and Thursdays from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.