H UMANS HAVE long enjoyed hitting things back and forth. A predecessor to badminton was supposedly played in Asia more than two millennia ago. In the 12th century members of the French royal family entertained themselves by playing “jeu de paume”. The “palm game”, which involved slapping a ball over a net, evolved into modern-day tennis. Today racket sports are played everywhere, all the time. This weekend, for instance, in Malaysia the world’s top badminton players will fight in one of the sport’s big tournaments. A similar competition for squash is taking place in Luxembourg. And the elite of the table-tennis world will compete in South Africa in the sport’s world championships.
乌曼斯长期以来一直喜欢来回击球。据说，羽毛球的前身是在亚洲两千年以前扮演的。在12世纪，法国王室成员通过演奏“ Jeu de Paume”来娱乐自己。“棕榈游戏”涉及将球拍在网上，并演变成现代网球。如今，球拍运动一直到处都在玩。例如，这个周末，在马来西亚，世界上顶级的羽毛球运动员将参加这项运动的一项大型比赛。南瓜的类似竞争也在卢森堡举行。纽约世界的精英将在南非参加这项运动的世界锦标赛。
