Badminton was initially known as:

The modern game of badminton developed from a game called "Poona" (after the city of Pune), which was played by British army officers stationed in India in the 1860s and 1870s. Some accounts say it was played at the garrison town of Pune, where a net was added to the older children's game of battledore and shuttlecock.

How badminton got its name:

Officers returning from India took the game to England.

In 1873, it was played at Badminton House in Gloucestershire, the country estate of the Duke of Beaufort. The guests called it "the game of Badminton", and the name stuck.

The first rules were written in Pune in 1873 and formalised in England by the Bath Badminton Club in 1877.

The Badminton Association of England was formed in 1893, and its rules form the basis of the modern game.

Badminton milestones:

• 1899: first All England Championships.
• 1934: International Badminton Federation founded (now the Badminton World Federation, BWF, based in Kuala Lumpur).
• 1948-49: first Thomas Cup.
• 1977: first World Championships.
• 1992: badminton became an Olympic sport (Barcelona).

Badminton in India:

The Badminton Association of India (BAI) was formed in 1934.

Indian stars include Prakash Padukone, Pullela Gopichand, Saina Nehwal, P. V. Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth, Lakshya Sen, and the doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty.

• V. Sindhu is the only Indian badminton player to win two Olympic medals (silver 2016, bronze 2020).

Earlier names of other sports:

• Volleyball was first called "Mintonette" (1895).
• Lawn tennis was first called "Sphairistike" by Major Walter Wingfield (1874).
• Table tennis was earlier known as "Ping-pong" and "Whiff-whaff".

Why not the other options?

• ✗Mintonette was the original name of volleyball.
• ✗Sphairistike was the original name of lawn tennis.
• ✗Ping-pong is another name for table tennis.