JumpSmash: Badminton explores fresh frontiers

One of the innovative ways in which sport has spread is through gaming. Badminton has remained somewhat distanced from such technological innovations. A new game, however, promises to replicate the world badminton circuit for those hooked to gaming on mobiles and tablets. Called JumpSmash, the game has characters closely resembling the top badminton stars, although their names have been tweaked to avoid legal trouble.

World No.1 Lee Chong Wei, for instance, debuts in his gaming avatar as ' Lee Shong Wai', while our own P Kashyap has been transformed into 'Kash'. JumpSmash was developed by a gaming company called Mediasoft and released in September. It's perhaps an indicator of the growing popularity of badminton that the game hit 3.5 million downloads within three months. "The game is obviously popular in the badminton-playing countries," said Havene Liew, Managing Director of Mediasoft. "But there are some surprises - Spain is No.3 and France is No.5 in the number of downloads. Malaysia is No.1 and Indonesia No.2... India is also within the top-ten."

Mediasoft has 80 employees, 30 of whom worked on JumpSmash. “We’re looking at it to promote badminton,” added Liew. “We’re hoping it becomes the official game of the world federation.”

Among the interesting exhibits at the expo were installations by the Malaysian Institute of Art and the Dasein Academy of Art. The exhibits explored artistic and philosophical questions around badminton – questions that have rarely, if ever, been raised around this sport. One exhibit, titled ‘White Field’, was an installation assembled from 5000 shuttlecocks.

Malaysia is heaven for a badminton enthusiast. Although the country hasn’t done well in a long time, with only Lee Chong Wei to be proud of, there is never a lack of enthusiasm in discussing the relative merits of players, or why it has fallen behind.

The Superseries Finals signals the end of the year’s badminton season, and there is a relaxed air all around. The main point of interest, in Malaysia especially, is the contests between Lee Chong Wei and his formidable Chinese opponents Lin Dan and Chen Long. With neither Lin Dan nor Chen Long having picked up sufficient Superseries points, Chong Wei is nearly assured of picking up his fourth title. There is more than just nationalistic pride when Chong Wei takes on Lin Dan or Chen Long – he represents excellence in a sporting firmament with few Malaysian sports icons, and consequently carries some heavy burdens.