Whack That Birdie! Badminton Facility Opens in Town

A new recreational facility opened in Westborough on Jan.14, the type of which is available in just a handful of locations across the country. Located at 169 Flanders Road, Boston Badminton opened its doors to the delight of badminton enthusiasts in the Metrowest area.

The opening was the culmination of a longtime dream for co-owners Wen-foo and Yvonne Chern, a married couple that discovered their mutual love of the sport and each other while attending Cornell University in the 1990’s.   

Wen-foo is from Malaysia and Yvonne is from the Philippines, two nations where the game is enormously popular.

“I played badminton as a kid in the backyard in Malaysia,” said Wen-foo. “And I played once in a while in college with friends. Then I started picking up the game again about ten to twelve years ago when I discovered a badminton club in Wellesley," he explained.

A badminton family of sorts developed at the club in Wellesley that included Sue Hsu, who works at Boston Badminton as an assistant, and Richard Riley, a Boylston resident who showed up at the new Westborough facility just ten minutes after the doors opened for the first time.

The Cherns are aware that in the U.S. most people think of the sport as fun backyard game that is casually played with a racquet in one hand and a beer in the other. But Wen-foo says the popularity of and awareness about badminton is definitely on the rise.

“It is getting popular, especially in California. Private clubs have opened in the Silicon Valley-San Francisco area and in L.A. as well. On the East Coast there are clubs in Flushing (NY) and one in Virginia, one in Maryland, and a new one is opening in DC," he said.

Are Americans becoming more aware that badminton is a game that is played very seriously and is in fact an Olympic sport?

“I think so. Badminton in the U.S. used to be very strong in the 40’s and 50’s, and maybe into the 60’s," Chern said.

Why was Westborough chosen to be the club’s location?

“Property was available that was large enough to build a new facility, and the location at routes 9 and 495 was a plus. Also there is a high tech community here with lots of people from Europe and Asia," he added.

The facility is state-of-the-art, and Wen-foo isn’t shy about saying what he hopes the facility’s impact will have on the sport both locally and nationally. "We had a junior training camp here right after Christmas and we had kids come here from North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.”

Plans are for Boston Badminton to be a place where very serious players come from around the country for training and practice.

Can the US become an Olympic power in the sport again as it was in the mid-20^th century?

“That’s the eventual goal and I feel it is really possible," Chern said.

Yet Wen-foo also wants Boston Badminton to be a place where those who are curious about the sport and are considering playing it for the first time can go to have fun and learn how it’s played.

“We have a very flexible plan. We have annual memberships but drop-ins can also get a day pass to come and play for a few hours. It’s a tremendous workout. Movements are quicker and more frequent than they are in tennis," he said.

Chern is hoping that residents in Westborough give the sport a try and join the growing number of Americans who can’t get enough of it.