Vientiane 2009

Shuttlecock is a game in which players aim to keep a heavily weighted shuttlecock in the air using their feet and other parts of the body (but not hands).

In China, where it originated around 500 BC, it is known as jianzi but other countries each have their own local name.

The game may involve a court and net, similar to badminton, or be played among a circle of players, such as in a park, with the objective to keep the shuttle 'up' and show off skills.

In Vietnam, it is known as da cau and is the national sport, played especially in Hanoi. The ball of shuttlecock is made up of two parts: the feather top and the rubber base.

Four coloured goose feathers in the form of a cross are installed into the pipe on the base. The rubber base is made of three parts: the upper base, the lower base and the pipe for feathers.

All of them are made of rubber. When a team makes a fault, the opponent team should be credited with one point.

A team wins the set when it scores 21 points and has at least the advantage of 2 points over the opponent team: if the score is 20:20, the competition should continue until one team wins the set with 2 points advantage.

The team that wins a point gets the right of service except if the score is 20:20. After this the teams serve by turns the team that was receiving at 20:20 having the next service.

Shuttlecock was incorporated into the Asian Indoor Games in 2009.