Crossminton facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
International Crossminton Organisation

Logo of ICO
Abbreviation	ICO
Founded	25 August 2011; 13 years ago (2011-08-25)
Type	Federation of national associations
Legal status	Governing body of crossminton
Purpose	Sport governance
Headquarters	Berlin, Germany
Region served	Worldwide
Membership	31 national associations
Official languages	English
President	Matjaž Šušteršič
Financial officer	Yoko Koizumi
Board of Executives	Maximilian Franke Petr Marklik Daniel Robles Rodríguez Charly Knobling
Secretary General	René Lewicki
Main organ	General Assembly

Crossminton players on a rooftop in Berlin

Crossminton is an exciting racket game that mixes parts of badminton, squash, and tennis. You can play it almost anywhere because it doesn't need a net or a special court. Imagine playing on a tennis court, a street, a beach, a field, or even in a gym!

This sport used to be called Speed Badminton. It was often linked to the brand "Speedminton" because they helped it grow. On January 1, 2016, the name officially changed to Crossminton. Now, people play Crossminton all over the world. More and more clubs are forming, and tournaments are held regularly.

The International Crossminton Organization (ICO) was started in Berlin on August 25, 2011. It was first known as the International Speed Badminton Organisation (ISBO). By 2018, the ICO had 26 member countries from Europe, America, Asia, and Africa.

How Crossminton Started

The idea for Crossminton and its special shuttlecock came from Bill Brandes in Berlin in 2001. He wanted to create a version of badminton that could be played outdoors. He made the ball, now called a speeder, smaller and heavier. This change helps it fly well even when it's windy.

At first, Bill called his new sport "shuttleball." Soon after, it was renamed "speed badminton." Then, in January 2016, the name changed again to crossminton. Even though it's similar to badminton, Crossminton doesn't use a net and is much faster! By 2003, about 6,000 people in Germany were already playing. The sport continues to grow, with many international tournaments happening across Europe and beyond.

Playing the Game

What You Need to Play

Match Speeder

Each player needs a racket. These rackets are similar to squash rackets but are made especially for Crossminton. They are about 58–60 cm long. The materials and strings are different from other rackets.

The ball used in Crossminton is called a speeder. It's heavier than a regular badminton shuttlecock. This design helps it fly straight and fast, even in winds up to force 4 (a moderate breeze).

Setting Up the Court

Crossminton equipment

A Crossminton court has two squares. Each square is 5.5 meters (about 18 feet) long on all sides. The two squares are placed 12.8 meters (about 42 feet) apart from each other.

You can even set up a Crossminton court on half of a tennis court. You just need some elastic lines to mark the squares. For regular games, players use Match Speeders. Younger players (under 12) use Fun Speeders and play on a smaller court (4x4 meters) with the squares only 9 meters apart.

Basic Rules of Crossminton

The main goal of the game is to hit the speeder so it lands inside your opponent's square. If the speeder lands outside their square, you get a point! Players can move anywhere inside or even outside their own square during the game.

A game ends when one player reaches at least 16 points. They also need to have at least a 2-point lead over their opponent. After each game (or "set"), players switch sides of the court. This helps make sure conditions like wind or sunlight are fair for everyone.

How to Win a Match

A match usually means winning two out of three games (sets). So, the first player to win two sets wins the whole match. If the score in a set is tied at 15-15 or higher, play continues until one player has a 2-point lead.

Serving the Speeder

To decide who serves first, players can flip a coin or throw a speeder. Each player gets three serves in a row. Every time the speeder is hit back and forth (a "rally"), a point is scored. If the score reaches 15-15, the serve changes after every point.

You must serve from a special area, which is 3 meters behind the front line of your square. You can't step over this line when you serve. The serve must be hit from below, in an upward motion. The player who lost the previous set gets to serve first in the next set.

Scoring Points

You score a point in Crossminton if:

• The serve isn't done correctly.
• The speeder hits the floor or the roof.
• The speeder lands in your opponent's square and they can't hit it back.
• The speeder lands outside the court (the lines are considered part of the court).
• A player touches the speeder twice in a row.
• The speeder touches a player's body.

If a player hits the speeder back from outside the court, the game continues.

Changing Sides

Players switch sides after each set. This makes sure that things like wind or bright lights don't give one player an unfair advantage. If a third game (called a tiebreak) is needed, players switch sides after every 6 points.

Different Ways to Play

• Doubles: In doubles, two players team up on one court. The serving team decides who serves first. The server stands at the back line, and their partner stands in front. Serves rotate among all four players. The team that lost the previous set serves first in the next one.

• Blackminton (Playing in the Dark): Crossminton can be played at night using special glowing equipment and black lights! This version is called Blackminton. You can use fluorescent paint for the court lines, glowing rackets, and special "night speeders" with glow sticks inside them. This makes playing in the dark super cool!

Big Tournaments: World & European Championships

The very first Crossminton World Championships (then called Speed Badminton) happened on August 26-27, 2011. Over 380 players from 29 countries came to Berlin to compete! Players from Canada, the US, and Australia even joined in.

Since then, the World and European Championships take turns happening every year. These big events bring together the best Crossminton players from around the globe!

Overview of World & European Crossminton Championships - Adults & U18 (U19 since 2021)

Year	Tournament	City	Open Division		Female Open		Open Doubles		Female Doubles		Mixed Doubles		U18 (U19 since 2021) Male		U18 (U19 since 2021) Female
			Champion	Runner-up	Champion	Runner-up	Champion	Runner-up	Champion	Runner-up	Champion	Runner-up	Champion	Runner-up	Champion	Runner-up
2011	1. ICO Crossminton World Championships	Berlin	Per Hjalmarson	Daniel Gossen	Janet Köhler	Jasmina Keber	Daniel Gossen René Lewicki	Per Hjalmarson Björn Karlsson	not played		not played		Tomáš Pavlovský	Dasen Jardas	Alexandra Kacviňská	Lenka Levková
2012	3. ISBO European Championships	Poreč	Per Hjalmarson	Mattias Aronsson	Jasmina Keber	Ágnes Darnyik	Mattias Aronsson Per Hjalmarson	Samo Lipušček Robi Titovšek	Krisztina Bognar Ágnes Darnyik	Helena Halas Jasmina Keber	Daniel Gossen Jennifer Greune	Tomáš Pavlovský Alexandra Kacviňská	Tomáš Pavlovský	Jakub Kosicki	Zita Ruby	Alexandra Kacviňská
2013	2. ICO Crossminton World Championships	Berlin	Patrick Schüsseler	Melker Ekberg	Jasmina Keber	Marta Soltys	Mattias Aronsson Per Hjalmarson	Ivo Junker Severin Wirth	Krisztina Bognar Ágnes Darnyik	Barbora Syč-Kriváňová Lucia Syč-Kriváňová	Daniel Gossen Jennifer Greune	Tomáš Pavlovský Alexandra Kacviňská	Bence Pálinkás	Tomáš Pavlovský	Alexandra Kacviňská	Tea Grofelnik
2014	4. ISBO European Championships	Warsaw	Per Hjalmarson	Mladen Stankovic	Jasmina Keber	Jennifer Greune	Tomasz Kaczmarek Marcin Ociepa	Mattias Aronsson Per Hjalmarson	Krisztina Bognar Ágnes Darnyik	Janina Karasek Marta Soltys	Daniel Gossen Jennifer Greune	Matjaž Šusteršič Jasmina Keber	Bence Pálinkás	Jaša Jovan	Nikola Bariaková	Terezia Gibalová
2015	3. ICO Crossminton World Championships	Berlin	Per Hjalmarson	Myhailo Mandryk	Jasmina Keber	Janet Köhler	Mattias Aronsson Per Hjalmarson	Patrick Schüsseler David Zimmermanns	Janina Karasek Marta Soltys	Andrea Horn Verena Horn	Melker Ekberg Rebecca Nielsen	Matjaž Šusteršič Jasmina Keber	Nico Franke	Saudo Tejada Dámaso	Eliška Andrlová	Danaja Knez
2016	5. ICO European Championships	Gouesnou	David Zimmermanns	Sönke Kaatz	Danaja Knez	Rebecca Nielsen	Patrick Schüsseler David Zimmermanns	Mattias Aronsson Per Hjalmarson	Andrea Horn Franziska Ottrembka	Alexandra Desfarges Julie Guyot	Melker Ekberg Rebecca Nielsen	Tamás Dósza Ágnes Darnyik	Nico Franke	Szymon Andrzejewski	Lori Škerl	Rebeka Škerl
2017	4. ICO Crossminton World Championships	Warsaw	Per Hjalmarson	Marcin Ociepa	Ágnes Darnyik	Janet Köhler	Robin Joop Sönke Kaatz	Patrick Schüsseler David Zimmermanns	Krisztina Bognar Ágnes Darnyik	Anna Hubert Franziska Ottrembka	Melker Ekberg Rebecca Nielsen	Ján Ščavnický Tamara Lukáčová	Jaša Jovan	Nico Franke	Eliška Andrlová	Lori Škerl
2018	6. ICO Speedminton European Championships 2018	Skien	Petr Makrlík	Per Hjalmarson	Eliška Andrlová	Marta Urbanik	Petr Makrlík Daniel Knoflíček	Patrick Schüsseler David Zimmermanns	Andrea Horn Anja Rolfes	Sabina Schabek Marta Urbanik	Melker Ekberg Rebecca Nielsen	Nikola Kucina Paula Barković	Dávid Takács	Maciej Filipowicz	Anna Andrlová	Nika Miškulin
2019	5. ICO Crossminton World Championships	Budapest	Per Hjalmarson	Myhailo Mandryk	Jasmina Keber	Lori Škerl	Patrick Schüsseler David Zimmermanns	Petr Makrlík Daniel Knoflíček	Lori Škerl Danaja Knez	Andrea Horn Anja Rolfes	Yurina Abe Akihiko Nishimura	Sebastian Christoph Anna Hubert	Shameem Elaheebocus	Maciej Filipowicz	Sendilla Mourat	Georgina Veres
2020	6. ICO European Championships 2020 (Cancelled : Covid-19 pandemics)
2021	6. ICO Crossminton World Championships (played in 2022 due to Covid-19 pandemics)	Zagreb	Akihiko Nishimura	Petr Makrlík	Yurina Abe	Jasmina Keber Šušteršič	Ivo Junker Severin Wirth	Petr Makrlík Daniel Knoflíček	Jasmina Keber Šušteršič Danaja Knez	Tereza Hogenová Tereza Šimková	Yurina Abe Akihiko Nishimura	Pál Pádár Edit Osvay	Arturs Dzirkalis	Mateusz Faska	Zuzana Holesinska	Katarína Daduľáková

International Tournaments

The International Crossminton Organization (ICO) supervises many international tournaments around the world. Each member country can host certain types of tournaments each year. There are only five "1000 points" tournaments each year. The ICO chooses these based on applications from member countries. The series of "1000 points" and "500 points" tournaments is called the World Series.

When players join international ICO tournaments, they earn ranking points based on how well they do. These points help decide their "seeding" (their rank) for future tournaments.

World Series Tournaments in 2018

Date	Tournament	City	Open Division		Female Open		Open Doubles
			Champion	Runner-up	Champion	Runner-up	Champion	Runner-up
17.-18.3.2018	10. ICO Speedminton® Slovenian Open	Laško	Myhailo Mandryk	Melker Ekberg	Jasmina Keber	Lori Škerl	Melker Ekberg Petr Makrlík	Jaša Jovan David Zimmermanns
28.-29.4.2018	10. ICO Speedminton® Hungarian Open	Kiskunfélegyháza	Petr Makrlík	Per Hjalmarson	Jasmina Keber	Ágnes Darnyik	Per Hjalmarson Petr Makrlík	Grzegorz Chmielewski Tomasz Moskal
5.-6.5.2018	11. ICO Speedminton® Croatian Open	Zagreb	Petr Makrlík	Jaša Jovan	Lori Škerl	Eliška Andrlová	Adam Kakula Petr Makrlík	Marcel Herrmann David Zimmermanns
19.-20.5.2018	9. ICO Speedminton® SLOVAK Open	Banská Bystrica	Petr Makrlík	Myhailo Mandryk	Lori Škerl	Barbora Syč-Kriváňová	Melker Ekberg Petr Makrlík	Adam Kakula Andrej Ostrihoň
1.-2.6.2018	ICO Speedminton® Japan Open	Tokyo	David Zimmermanns	Olivér Vincze	Yuka Nishimura	Andrea Horn	Shinichi Nagata Patrick Schüsseler	Akihiko Nishimura David Zimmermanns
22.-23.6.2018	ICO Speedminton® Polish Open	Warsaw	Nico Franke	Petr Makrlík	Danaja Knez	Marta Urbanik	Melker Ekberg Petr Makrlík	Robin Joop Adrian Lutz
21.7.2018	2018 ICO Speedminton® Swedish Open	Gothenburg	Per Hjalmarson	Melker Ekberg	Rebecca Nielsen	Eliška Andrlová	Mattias Aronsson Per Hjalmarson	Robin Joop Sönke Kaatz
8.-9.9.2018	2018 ICO Speedminton® Serbian Open	Sombor	(future event)
29.-30.9.2018	8. ICO Speedminton® Czech Open 2018	Brno	(future event)
19.-21.10.2018	2018 ICO Speedminton® German Open	Fürstenfeldbruck	(future event)
9.-10.11.2018	2018 ICO Speedminton® Latvian Open	Riga	(future event)
17.-18.11.2018	2018 ICO Speedminton® Spanish Open	Las Palmas	(future event)

* 1000 points tournaments are denoted in bold characters

Nations Cup: Team Competition

Since 2013, the ICO has also held a team competition called the ICO Nations Cup. It's like the Davis Cup or Fed Cup in tennis, but in Crossminton, teams are mixed with both male and female players.

First, teams play in regional tournaments. The winners of these regional events, called "Regional Champions," then compete for the title of ICO Nations Cup Champion at a final tournament.

A national team needs at least three players: usually two male players and one female player. They can have up to five players in total, with two reserves who can play in singles or doubles matches. When two national teams play against each other, they have 6 matches: 4 singles matches and 2 doubles matches.

ICO Nations Cup Results

Year	Final Tournament Venue	Champion	Runner-up
2013	Guimaraes	Slovenia	Germany
2014	Budapest	Sweden	Germany
2015	Eragny sur Oise	Slovenia	Germany
2016	Brno	Germany	Poland
2017	Zabok	Slovenia	Czech Republic
2018	Laško	Czech Republic	Slovenia
2019	Prague	Germany	Czech Republic
2020	(not played)	(not played)
2021	(not played)	(not played)

See also

In Spanish: Speed badminton para niños