Paris 2024: Introduction to Para badminton
All you need to know about the exciting sport that will be staged at the Paralympics for the second time 11 Mar 2024
Welcome to Week 3 of Paris 2024 Sport Weeks. This week, we will share everything you need to know about Para badminton ahead of the Paris 2024 Games.
Para badminton is a fast-paced racquet sport, characterised by dynamic action, powerful and speedy shots. It was included in the Paralympic sport programme for the first time at Tokyo 2020 and featured 90 athletes from 28 National Paralympic Committees (NPCs). In Paris, there will be up to 120 athletes competing in 16 medal events.
Brief history of Para badminton
International tournaments have been held since the 1990s, with the first World Championships staged in Amersfoort, Netherlands in 1998. Since then, 13 more editions have been held, with the latest in February 2024 in Pattaya, Thailand. The sport has continued to grow in popularity, increasing from 230 athletes from 35 countries at the Worlds in 2015 to more than 300 athletes competing at the most recent edition.
Fourteen medal events were contested at Tokyo 2020. Hosts Japan fielded the biggest team with 13 athletes. Sarina Satomi topped the podium in the women’s singles WH1 and women’s doubles WH1-WH2 tournaments, while Daiki Kajiwara won the men’s singles WH2 event.
China topped the medal table with 10 medals, including five golds. Indonesia’s Leani Ratri Oktila captured two golds and one silver.
What to watch in Para badminton
Athletes hit a shuttlecock across a net without return. Matches are the best of three games, with the first athlete to score 21 points winning a game. If the score becomes 20-all, the side which gains a two-point lead first will win the game.
Competitors are grouped together in six different sport classes – WH1, WH2, SL3, SL4, SU5, and SH6. Athletes in WH1 and WH2 classes compete in wheelchairs, which may be equipped with supporting wheels.
In singles tournament, WH1 and WH2 athletes, in addition to SL3 athletes, play on half the court. The height of the net is the same for all classes and stands at 1.55m, the same as in Olympic badminton.
When tuning into Para badminton, it can help to know some of the terminology.
Clear – a high, deep shot to push the opponent to the back of the court.
Drop – a shot that barely clears the net.
Lift – generic term for an upward shot.
Net – a shot from the forecourt that just clears the net.
Smash – an overhead, powerful attacking shot.
Memorable Paralympic moments
Malaysia’s Liek Hou Cheah captured the sport’s first-ever Paralympic gold medal at Tokyo 2020 by beating his Indonesian archrival Dheva Anrimusthi 21-17, 21-15 in the final.
Cheah dedicated his medal to all Malaysian badminton lovers.
Oktila became Indonesia’s golden girl winning both gold medals the country clinched at Tokyo 2020. In the women’s doubles SL3-SU5, Oktila and Khalimatus Sadiyah took just 32 minutes to defeat the world champion Chinese pair of Cheng Hefang and Ma Huihui 21-18, 21-12.
Oktila along with veteran Hary Susanto then overcame the challenge from French pair Lucas Mazur and Faustine Noel in the mixed doubles. In the singles, however, Oktila fell to her Chinese rival Hefang; the latter avenging her women’s doubles loss with the gold.
Qu Zimo led China’s medal haul with two gold medals. Zimo’s men’s singles WH1 and men’s doubles WH1-WH2 titles with Mai Jianpeng were among the highlights in Para badminton.
Japan’s Daiki Kajiwara emerged as one of the biggest surprises, when he ended the Paralympic dreams of Korean legend Kim Jung Jung, who came to Japan as the gold medal favourite in the men’s singles WH2 event.
Paris 2024 event programme
Sixteen medal events will take place in Paris. Three events - women’s singles SL3 and SH6, as well as the mixed doubles SH6 tournament – making their Paralympic debut in the French capital.
Singles – WH1 (men, women)
Singles – WH2 (men, women)
Singles – SL3 (men, women)
Singles – SL4 (men, women)
Singles – SU5 (men, women)
Singles – SH6 (men, women)
Doubles - WH1-WH2 (men, women)
Mixed doubles – SL3-SU5
Mixed doubles - SH6
Paris 2024 venue
Porte de la Chapelle Arena will stage Para badminton at Paris 2024.
It is an eco-design venue with a seating capacity of 6,700 and is also the venue for Para powerlifting. It was built in central Paris for the Paralympic and Olympic Games.
The arena will be transformed into a cultural and sport hub for people in northern Paris after the Games. Eighty percent of the building’s surface is covered with greenery, while recyclable aluminium and bio-based wood are also used to construct the complex.
