International Crossminton Organisation

Logo of ICO
Abbreviation	ICO
Founded	25 August 2011 (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[1]
Official languages	English
President	Matjaž Šušteršič
Financial officer	Yoko Koizumi
Board of Executives	Maximilian Franke Petr Marklik Daniel Robles Rodríguez Charly Knobling[2]
Secretary General	René Lewicki
Main organ	General Assembly
Website	www.crossminton.org

Crossminton players on a rooftop in Berlin

Crossminton, previously known as Speed Badminton, is a racket game that combines elements from different sports like badminton, squash and tennis. It is played without any net and has no prescribed playground, so it can be executed on tennis courts, streets, beaches, fields or gyms.

The sport is often associated with the brand Speedminton because of their historical relation. From 1 January 2016 the name of the racket sport has been changed from Speed Badminton to Crossminton. Today, Crossminton is played all around the world. Currently, there are tournaments all over the world which are organized in a growing number of clubs. On August 25, 2011 the International Crossminton Organization (ICO) was founded under the name International Speed Badminton Organisation (ISBO) in Berlin. By 2018 the ICO already had 26 members - national federations from Europe, America, Asia and Africa.

History

The special shuttlecock and the idea of the game were invented in 2001 in Berlin by Bill Brandes.^[3] The game was refined to the final game of crossminton by the Speedminton company. The inventor first named his new sport "shuttleball", but soon the game was renamed "speed badminton". Starting from January 2016 the name was changed again, to crossminton. Originally, the idea of the inventor was to create an outdoor variant of badminton, so he changed the ball to be smaller and heavier (today called speeder). The analogy of badminton now exists only in a technical way: there is no net and the game tempo is faster. In 2003, there were already 6,000 active players in Germany. The sport is growing steadily and there are numerous international tournaments across Europe.

Game

Equipment

Match Speeder

Both of the players need a racket.^[4] The rackets are similar to the ones used in squash but are specially produced for Crossminton. They are 58–60 cm long, and the material and the strings are different. The ball is called a speeder and is heavier than a conventional badminton shuttlecock, meaning it can be used up to wind force 4.

Speeder-Type	Flight distance	Speed
Fun Speeder	13–18 m	260 km/h
Match Speeder	17–25 m	290 km/h

Rules

Equipment

The field consists of two squares measuring 5.5 meters (18 ft) on each side. The distance between the squares is 12.8 meters (42 ft). Crossminton can be played on half of a tennis court which can easily be modified with elastic lines. Match Speeders are used for normal games. Children and adolescents (U12) play with fun speeders on a smaller court (4x4 m) over a smaller distance (9 meters).^[5]

The aim of the game is to reach the square of the opposite player with the speeder. If the speeder falls outside the opposite square, the other side gains a point. Both players are allowed to step out of, or anywhere inside their square during play.

The game ends when one player has at least 16 points and has at least 2 points advantage over their opponent. Every time a set/round finishes, the players switch sides.

Match

A game ends when one player reaches 16 points. If the score is tied at 15 or greater, play continues until one player has a two-point advantage. A match usually consists of two winning sets (best of three).

Service

The right to serve first is drawn by throwing a coin or a speeder. Every player has three serves. Every rally scores. At a score of 15:15 the serve switches after every point. The serve must be done out of the designated zone which is 3 m behind the front offensive line. This line must not be crossed and the serve is played bottom-up. The first serve of the next set is done by the loser of the previous set.

Points

Every rally scores if there is no necessity to repeat it. Points can be gained if:

• the serve is not correct
• the speeder touches the floor or the roof
• the speeder lands in the opposite court and cannot be returned
• the speeder lands outside the court (the lines count as being within the court)
• the speeder is touched two times immediately after each other
• the speeder touches the body

If a player returns a speeder from outside the court, it is considered to still be in play.

Change of ends

After every set, there is a change of ends to guarantee equal opportunities concerning wind and lighting conditions. If a third game (tiebreak) becomes necessary, players change sides after every 6 points.

World & European Championships

The first Crossminton (former Speed Badminton) World Championships took place on 26 and 27 August 2011. It was officially named ‘ISBO Azimut Hotels Speedminton® World Championships’. Over 380 participants from 29 countries played in Berlin, in 10 categories. Players from Canada, the US and Australia also attended. Per Hjalmarson from Sweden won the men’s title, Janet Köhler from Germany won the women’s title and Rene Lewicki & Daniel Gossen from Germany won the doubles title in the final games. Since then the World and European Championships alternate every year.

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

There are many international crossminton tournaments taking place all around the world under the supervision of the International Crossminton Organization.^[6] Every member country can host up to one 1000/500 points tournament and four 250 points tournaments every year. There are only five 1000 points tournaments every year, chosen by the ICO based on the applications sent by member federations. The series of 1000 and 500 points tournaments is called World Series.

By participating in international ICO tournaments the players receive ranking points based on their results.^[7] Ranking points are used to determine seeding for upcoming 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

Since 2013 the ICO has organized a national team competition called ICO Nations Cup.^[8] The concept is derived from tennis competitions like David Cup or Fed Cup, but in crossminton mixed teams consisting of both male and female players are competing. First, Regional tournaments are played in group- or elimination system and then the winners of Regional tournaments – Regional Champions – battle it out for the title of ICO Nations Cup Champion at the Final tournament.^[9]

A national team consists of at least three players – 2 male players (open category, but not as a rule) and 1 female player (women’s category, but not as a rule) – and not more than five players (3 players + 2 reserves that can step in for either singles or doubles matches). A clash between two national teams consists of 6 matches – 4 singles and 2 doubles matches.

ICO Nations Cup Results^[10]

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)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Speed Badminton.

• Crossminton - International Site about the new racket sport.
• Speedminton - Site of the producer Speedminton with videos, photos and all information about the new sport.
• ISBO / ICO– Site of the International Crossminton Organisation
• Speedminton Gekkos Berlin e.V. Archived 2018-09-26 at the Wayback Machine - Site of the first official Speed Badminton/Crossminton club in Berlin; with photos and advice. (in German)
• SbK Lipany - Speed Badminton Club Lipany. (in Slovak)
• Crossminton.sk - Crossminton site in Slovakia. (in Slovak)
• Speed Badminton in Canada - Site of the first official Speed Badminton club in Canada.
• Speedminton Blackminton PORTUGAL - Portuguese site with photos, videos, events, online store and much information.
• German Speed Badminton Association / German Speed Badminton Association - The German Crossminton Association (in German)
• SC "Crossminton Bulgaria" - site of the first crossminton club in Bulgaria]
• Česká asociace crossmintonu - official site of the Czech Association of Crossminton. (in Czech)