If BWF has its way, Badminton could soon become a beach sport!

Soon you might witness the likes of Sania Mirza and Parupalli Kashyap exhibiting their racquet skills under the sun, on the sand, in the serene surrounding of a beach. Of course, how the BWF plans to tackle the issue of the shuttle being affected by the breeze is yet to be seen.

BWF has decided to test out the concept at the world-governing body council meeting, and are now in discussion with various stakeholders to take this forward. The first instance of this new avatar of badminton will be seen at the Asian Beach Games, followed by the another appearance at Russia's National Beach Games. The BWF will wait for feedback from these two events, before finalizing this change. The BWF president has also confirmed that they are also planning for an e-gaming version of the next month's Olympics.

"The feedback from such events will certainly help as we look to develop this genre of badminton. There are legions of athletes and fans who are into outdoor sport, some beach sport particularly. The area that's very attractive commercially.

"There are a lot of technical aspects we have to get right, especially with the shuttle. We have to look at these things first but we are committed to taking badminton outdoors.

"The internet and social media have challenged our imagination with regards to sport and the e-gaming evolution is constantly re-writing the possibilities of what can be done with and through sport," the BWF President Poul-Erik Høyer Larsen told PTI.