Paralympics 2024: A guide to Para-badminton at the Paris Games
China's Liu Yutong and Yin Menglu are among the leading players in the world
- Published
Key information
Dates: 29 August-2 September
Venue: Porte de la Chapelle Arena
Gold medals on offer: 16
Para-badminton rules and classifications for Paris 2024
Para-badminton competitors are divided into six classes (two wheelchair classes and four standing classes).
WH1 and WH2 classes are for wheelchair users. WH1 athletes have a more severe impairment than WH2 athletes.
SL3 and 4 competitors are standing athletes with lower limb impairments while SU5 competitors are standing athletes with upper limb impairments and SH6 competitors are short-stature athletes.
The sport follows the rules of badminton, except for minor modifications. All events are best-of-three games and first to 21 points.
Every time there is a serve, a point is scored. The side winning a rally serves in the next point. At 20-all, the side which gains a two-point lead first wins that game. If the game is 29-all, the side scoring the 30th point wins the game.
Singles events in the two wheelchair classes and in the SL3 class use half the court, with shuttles falling between the net and a service line placed close to the net considered out of bounds.
Who will be competing for GB?
Since winning silver in the SL3 event on its Games debut in 2021, Dan Bethell has continued to win major championship medals and will be hungry to go one better than Tokyo.
Rachel Choong will be the first British woman to compete in the sport at a Paralympics and as well as featuring in the SH6 singles, her and Jack Shephard will be strong contenders in the SH6 mixed doubles where they have built a strong partnership.
And after bronze in Tokyo, Krysten Coombs will be aiming to win another medal in the SH6 men's singles.
Who are the other medal challengers?
Like at the Olympics, Asian nations are the dominant force across the sport.
China were the leading nation at the Tokyo Games where the sport made its debut and then went on to win 13 of the 22 gold medals on offer at the World Championships earlier this year, including in all six women's finals.
The current two-time player of the year and world champion Daiki Kajiwara of Japan will be aiming to retain his WH2 singles crown while Leani Ratri Oktila of Indonesia, a winner of two golds and a silver in Tokyo, will be hoping to extend her record as her country's most successful Paralympian.
Did you know?
The shuttlecock used in badminton is a piece of cork covered in goat skin with 16 goose feathers attached to one end. It can also be made of synthetic materials. It can reach speeds of up to 300km/h.
ParalympicsGB Tokyo 2020 medals
Two - one silver (Dan Bethell) and one bronze (Krysten Coombs)