Some of the great player personalities in the history of Badminton
Throughout the start of sports in the world, all the games have produced some great names. The game of badminton has also some diamonds in its arena. Eddy Choong Ewe-beng from Malaysia was
no less than a legend of the badminton arena. He served badminton in the 1950’s and won most of the honoured titles of that time. He along with his brother David Ewe Choong played men’s doubles thus for the first time two bothers played in the history of badminton
in the same game. The Badminton World Federation has bestowed Eddy Choong with a special honour. An event is organized under the banner of Badminton World Federation bearing the name, Eddy Choong player of the year. His name was added in the Hall of Fame
in 1997. Eddy Choong was famous for his agility, foot work, stamina and obstinacy. Because of his these abilities he won the All-England badminton Championships title for four consecutive times from 1953 to 1957. At that time the All-England World Championships
had not the recognition of the official championship. He also won men’s doubles finals with his brother for 3 consecutive times from 1951 to 1953. All these achievements have made Eddy Choong a legend and a role model for the youngsters. He cannot be forgotten
in the history of badminton.
If Malaysian players have excelled in the game then it would be unfair to discuss America here. America has improved a lot in the game and has produced many legends in the game of badminton.
Among the renowned legends, David G. Freeman is one of them. He dominated in the game when badminton was progressing on modern ties. He remained invincible from 1939 to the time when badminton was abandoned because of the 2ndWorld War. In 1939,
he was just eighteen years old when he started making his name in the world of badminton. He was quick, responsive, agile, awesome foot work and strong. Displaying all these characteristics, he participated in the All-England Championships for the first and
last time and won the title. He was the single American who had ever won any type of prestigious title.
After David till now, no American has been able to win the title again. David G. Freeman had also won the Thomas Cup in Europe in the men’s singles category. In the Danish open he defeated
the undefeated, Malaya and won the cup. Malaya, till then had never been undefeated. David G. Freeman is that type of player whose career has been full of such incredible stories. He defeated Ooi Teik Hock for three consecutive times. He came over strong Wong
Peng Soon. Thus all these achievements collectively made him a legend. He retired from the badminton arena in 1950 but the affection for the game dragged him back to the court and he reappeared in the court in 1953. In 1953, he played four tournaments and
won all of them. Freeman is the only American whoever has been included in both the U.S and The World Badminton Hall of Fame. He was considered the master of the court as he placed the shuttlecock wherever he wanted to. There are a lot many other players who
made their name in the American badminton history like Walter R. Kramer, Phillip Richardson, William Markham, Wayne Schell, Dr. Jim Poole and Chris Kinard etc but no one has ever touched the height of Freeman.
If we look into the history of badminton of England, we find a very talented collection of legends of players. This list involves a number of players who served badminton all their life.
Among the list is the prominent name of Sir George Alan Thomas. Sir George Alan Thomas was not only a badminton legend but also a chess and tennis Champion. He won the Chess Championship twice. And for what he is famous in the badminton arena is the winning
of All-England Badminton Championships for seven times. He was always in the news because of his fine taste of sports and sportsmanship. In the badminton history of England, he has been the most successful player. He won all together 21 titles throughout his
career from 1906-1928. 4 men’s singles titles, 9 men’s doubles titles and 8 mixed doubles titles shine his name in the history. He has also the achievement of being the first ever inaugural member who was included in the Hall of Fame of the World of Badminton.
Along with the contribution of the above described great personalities there are some other personalities who have contributed a lot for making badminton an internationally recognized game.
It is due to the contribution of such veterans that badminton is gaining popularly day by day.