BEIJING, Aug 11: Imagine if Michael Phelps had to swim in a pool with a nasty current, or if the Williams sisters tried to play tennis in a typhoon.

The wild result might be the same for Olympic badminton if engineers had not spent several years modelling, designing, constructing and testing the $1.5 million air conditioning system in the Beijing gymnasium where the matches are held.

The uninitiated may think badminton is just a lazy backyard game played at barbecues, but at the Olympics the shuttlecock flies at speeds up to 200 mph (322 kph).

More than anything, though, accuracy is king in competitive badminton because the cork and feather shuttlecock that is batted about weighs some 5.0 g (0.18 oz) and is designed for high drag.

In other words, a breeze can make a big difference.

So, instead of big tubes and wide vents, the custom-made, computer-controlled ventilation system at Beijing Institute of Technology gym pushes cool air into the gym at a whisper through 9,100 small round vents built under spectators’ seats.

“The air never moves faster than 0.2 meters per second” in the gym, said Zhang Ailin, a professor at the university involved in designing the gymnasium and venue manager.

Despite investing about 10 million yuan (about $1.5 million) in the ventilation system, players and coaches say there is a slight breeze over the net.

Some, such as Danish singles player Kenneth Jonassen, factored it into their strategy.

“From this side and over here you can put much more pressure on the back line, and from this side,” he said pointing the other way, “you can’t control with the same power”.

“I actually like when there’s a good draft,” he said.

Good thing, because air is never totally static.

“Even if you don’t use the air conditioning it will move,” Zhang said.—Reuters