Two of badminton's heavyweights are making strides towards spreading the sport to new markets and making it more accessible to younger generations.
Ratchanok Intanon celebrates after winning the world title.
The presidents of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) and top badminton equipment manufacturer Yonex say they see the potential for growth in regions outside of the traditionally strong Asian market.
"Badminton is growing all over the world right now," said Ben Yoneyama, president of Yonex, the official equipment supplier of the SCG BWF World Junior Championships 2013 held in Bangkok last week.
"There are more and more champions coming from different countries than ever before, and when people see someone from their own country winning, they want to try the sport as well."
BWF president Poul-Erik Hoyer Larsen is more measured in his analysis of the world's palate for the game, but is enthusiastic nonetheless.
"Obviously Asia is dominating right now," said the 1996 Olympic champion who was elected BWF president in May.
"I think that is in part because there is faster development of sports in Asia in general, but we are seeing very positive progress in places across Europe and Africa and in Russia. I think that is encouraging."
Both the governing body and Yonex are trying to foster that growth in different ways.
Yonex has reacted very much like a business company would _ catering their equipment to a diverse range of people and sponsoring badminton events all over the world.
In Thailand, the firm has sponsored junior teams, providing them with a full range of equipment, and has run the Yonex Rising Star Junior Tournament for 26 years since 1987 with over 400 athletes taking part in about 700 matches in the event each year.
"This is a way for the company to help develop younger players and help them reach success," said Nathapat Foopromwongse, managing director of Yonex Thailand.
"We want to help turn these young players into stars. I think stars are very important because it will increase the popularity of the sport and more kids will be inspired to play."
The popularity of the sport in Thailand has increased a lot, according to Nathapat, after Ratchanok Intanon won the women's title at the 2013 World Championships in Guangzhou in August.
The company has sponsored Ratchanok and her club Banthongyord for years.
Teenager Busanan Ongbumrungpan's fast rise at the junior and senior levels has also helped boost the popularity of badminton here.
However, it's unfortunate that Busanan failed to win the world junior title on home soil last week to follow in the footsteps of Ratchanok who claimed the crown three times from 2009-2011.
Busanan lost in the semi-finals. Had she triumphed, the popularity of the sport in Thailand would have soared.
Meanwhile, Yonex also steps outside the profit-centred mandate that drives most businesses.
Over the past several years, Yonex has regularly sent their best sponsored athletes to teach younger players across the globe and play exhibition matches with them, exposing students to the highest level of the game.
The organisation also sends large quantities of old racquets to less developed nations in an attempt to give them access to the sport.
"It is important that younger players know what it takes to be the best," said Yoneyama.
"That will not happen without good training. We need to give them access to that and they need the tools to succeed.
"When you are young, your mind is like a sponge. Younger people absorb things faster, and that is why we need to give them the opportunity to learn before they get older."
The BWF is also taking a grassroots approach to the sport's development.
Larsen notes that, although adequate training is fundamental, poorer nations often don't even have facilities in place to provide opportunities for training.
"Without a proper chance to play, children will likely never pick up the sport," he said.
"And if they don't start when they are young the chances of them becoming world-class players are low.
"We are now developing a new type of shuttle to help combat this. We hope to create a shuttle that will allow people to easily play outside, without the need for a court."
Larsen is unable to say when the shuttle will be finished but believes it will be a key step towards creating world-class talent in countries not typically associated with badminton.
"Hopefully this will help to increase the potential for the sport as a whole," he said.
"If we want the sport to spread worldwide we need to make it accessible to everyone. That should be a prime goal."
Busanan Ongbumrungpan.
