From what was disparagingly called a "pregnant ladies' pastime, Badminton has become the fastest racquet sport and one of the toughest of all individual games in the world. The shuttle travels at speeds close to 200 mph. It became an Olympic discipline at Barcelona 1992 and was incidentally the most watched of all Olympic disciplines thanks to huge viewer-ship in China and India. At a study conducted by sports scientists at the olympic training centre in Colorado Springs in USA, it was found that a top Badminton player required the aerobic capability of an elite 10000m runner and the explosiveness of an elite volleyballer. This means combining two very diverse qualities and it was also observed that the game required training close to 90% of maximum capacity for prolonged periods of time..