The first ever space badminton tournament took place at the International Space Station on the Earth orbit. Cosmonauts Alexander Misurkin (Roskosmos), Anton Shkaplerov (Roskosmos), astronauts Joseph Acaba (NASA), Mark Vande Hei (NASA), Norishige Kanai (JAXA) played in it.
The matches were played in the men’s doubles, but according to specific space rules. The score in the first match was not conducted, so all the athletes can be considered the winners of the first historic match.
We would like to mention that a number of players of the orbital match have already taken part in competitions on the ground – Alexander Misurkin is a two-time champion of the “Star Shuttle” tournament, traditionally held in the Zvyozdniy Town in honor of the Cosmonautics Day.
text by Badminton Europe
