The rise and fall of England badminton – men’s singles

Once upon a time, England dominated badminton. Not only were the English responsible for popularizing the sport of badminton, but England also wrote the rulebook for badminton. Thank you very much for that – we owe the modern badminton pioneers from England a debt of gratitude.

The English dominated the All-England in the amateur era winning 27 men’s singles titles between 1900 to 1938. Since then England has won zero All-England titles and has not made any significant waves as far as major tournament wins go.

The numbers and comparisons below demonstrate just how poorly England has been performing in the last 34 years. The country went from a powerhouse in badminton to obscurity.

The comparison to Denmark seems most appropriate since both these European countries have a similar history of badminton.

England men’s singles ranking in the 1990s compared to Denmark men’s singles

In January 1990, England was still relevant in men’s singles having 5 men’s singles players inside the top 32 on the BWF ranking.

JANUARY 1990	ENGLAND	DENMARK
Players in the top 100	6 players	15 players
Highest-ranked player at	13	3
Number of players in top 32	5	6

By January 1995, England still had 6 players in the top 100, but no players amongst the best 32 in the world.

JANUARY 1995	ENGLAND	DENMARK
Players in the top 100	6 players	14 players
Highest-ranked player at	33	5
Number of players in the top 32	0	5

England badminton ranking in the 2000s – men’s singles

In January 2000 England’s position was status quo compared to January 1995. Although Denmark’s top player was ranked number 1 in the world at the time, Denmark

JANUARY 2000	ENGLAND	DENMARK
Players in the top 100	6 players	10 players
Highest-ranked player at	34	1
Number of players in top 32	0	4

By January 2005 England only had 4 players inside the top 100. The highest-ranked player was placed at number 30 – a slight improvement since January 2000.

JANUARY 2005	ENGLAND	DENMARK
Players in the top 100	4 players	9 players
Highest-ranked player at	30	3
Number of players in top 32	1	4

England badminton ranking in the 2010s – men’s singles

The competition from Asia and other European countries truly heated up during the 2010s. England improved slightly in the past 5 years and now has 2 players inside the top 32.

JANUARY 2010	ENGLAND	DENMARK
Players in the top 100	3 players	8 players
Highest-ranked player at	39	5
Number of players in top 32	2	3

Interestingly, in March 2011 the BBC wrote this article about some of the problems at Badminton England. Very hard to believe that these sorts of problems occur within an elite sports environment.

In January 2015 England’s men’s singles representation was highly diminished compared to the past decades. Now only one English player made it inside the top 100 ranking.

By comparison, Denmark dropped from 8 to 6 players in 5 years, 3 of which were inside the top 32.

JANUARY 2015	ENGLAND	DENMARK
Players in the top 100	1 player	6 players
Highest-ranked player at	24	3
Number of players in top 32	1	3

Highest-ranked England player in 2010s

Darren J. Hall

ranked 10 in April 1993

Darren Hall represented England at 3 Olympic games (1988, 1992, 1996) and became the European Champion in men’s singles in 1988

England’s men’s singles de route continues into the 2020s

By 2020, England had not managed to fix the performance problem. On the other hand, Denmark managed to put 2 more players inside the top 100 and maintained a top 5 position for the highest-ranked Danish player.

JANUARY 2020	ENGLAND	DENMARK
Players in the top 100	1 player	8 players
Highest-ranked player at	54	2
Number of players in top 32	0	4

At the end of the 2004 season, England – the former badminton superpower – had not a single male singles player ranked in the top 100.

Denmark, on the other hand, is still relevant having not one, but two players in the top 5.

DECEMBER 2024	ENGLAND	DENMARK
Players in the top 100	NOBODY	5 players
Highest-ranked player at	106	2
Number of players in top 32	0	3

Can Badminton England fix the men’s singles problem? Will this former world number 1 be able to get it right?

A change is desperately needed in English badminton. And change begins at the top.

Needless to say, for Badminton England this is not a quick fix. In men’s singles, English badminton went from decent to obscurity in around 30 years. It will take time to get the men’s singles category back on track.

In April of 2022, Badminton England hired legendary Morten Frost as its new Performance Director. Here’s what he said about the prospects of elite badminton in England in 2022:

My very English colleague will follow up with Badminton England shortly. We also intend to publish a similar article for other categories and countries.

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