Badminton keeps local sportsman on his toes
After being a rugby player and an athlete, he started playing badminton at the age of 36 and is still playing at 73
Andries van Eck has been a sportsman practically all his life, but badminton stands out above the rest when it comes to his sporting exploits. This energetic sport is his favourite and it has kept him in shape for years now.
After being a rugby player and an athlete, he started playing badminton at the age of 36 and is still playing at the age of 73.
He has travelled to all the major centres in South Africa and Namibia to play the sport, and has represented nine provinces, winning national titles in age groups from 50 to 65.
People often link the game of badminton to that “plastic birdie thingie hit with those plastic racket thingies, brought along to pass the time at picnics and braais”.
So is this the same sport, being one of the fastest or maybe THE fastest sport in the world? That is a far cry from social braais and picnics. According to Mr van Eck, somebody in the Chemistry Department at Ohio University in the USA recently undertook a study comparing a Wimbledon tennis final and an all-England badminton final.
The results were as follows:
The Wimbledon final lasted 198 minutes and the badminton final 76 minutes.
The actual amount of time the tennis ball was in play was 18 minutes, while the shuttlecock (badminton ball) went back and forth over the high net for 37 minutes.
Breaking it down further, the number of shots played in the tennis final was 1004 and for badminton 1972.
Per shot per player, it was found that the tennis player covered about 3.2km whereas the badminton player covered 6.4km – double the distance!
The elegant little shuttlecock has been clocked at 288km/h.
Mr van Eck, at the tender age of 73, is still a force to be reckoned with and younger players refer to him as the “sly old man”.
If you are interested in playing badminton, you can meet the team at the Indoor Sports Complex every Thursday from 7.30pm to 9.30pm. All are welcome to join.
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