While Wimbledon has been hoovering up every racket-sport headline this past week, badminton quietly got on with its business. According to ESPN's Indian sports live blog for 25 June 2026, both Tanvi and Kidambi Srikanth advanced through their respective rounds at the BWF US Open - a Super 100-level event on the BWF World Tour calendar. It is a modest tournament by the standards of the All England or the Indonesia Open, but it is a live international stage, and results there feed directly into world ranking points.
That matters more than the scoreline suggests.
Why BWF Super 100 results still move the market#
The BWF World Tour is structured in tiers: Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300, and at the bottom, Super 100. Super 100 events like the US Open are where mid-ranked players grind out ranking points, and they are also where younger players on tour debut new racket setups before committing to them at the bigger shows. When a player wins or goes deep at this level, it often coincides with a gear change that surfaces in interviews or social posts a few weeks later - a new Yonex Astrox variant, a Victor frame, a Li-Ning they have been testing. The knock-on for second-hand supply is real: old frames get quietly listed, and curious club players who watched the event want the racket they just saw on court.
Srikanth in particular has had a long association with Yonex equipment, and any renewed visibility for him at international level tends to nudge search interest in Yonex badminton frames. If you are after one, the pre-owned badminton listings at EpicRackets are worth a look right now - supply tends to be better in the weeks after a tournament when players refresh their bags.
Badminton's visibility problem - and the opportunity it creates#
Badminton is the world's second most-played racket sport by participation, yet it sits well behind tennis and padel in second-hand marketplace activity in Portugal and Spain. Part of that is infrastructure - there are fewer dedicated badminton halls per capita in Iberia than in northern Europe or Asia - but part of it is simply that the sport gets almost no mainstream coverage outside of the Olympics and a handful of marquee BWF events. The BWF US Open barely registered in the European sports press.
That gap between participation and visibility is exactly where a pre-owned marketplace can add value. Players who are already playing at clubs in Lisbon, Porto, Madrid or Barcelona do not need Wimbledon-sized coverage to go looking for a second racket or an upgrade. They need a place to find one.
What to look for if you are buying pre-owned badminton gear#
| Factor | What to check |
|---|---|
| Frame condition | No cracks around the grommet holes or throat; check the shaft for hairline fractures |
| String tension | Most pre-owned frames will need restringing; budget €10-15 for a fresh set of nylon or feather-weight string |
| Grip size | Badminton grips are thin by design - easy to build up with an overgrip if needed |
| Brand tier | Yonex, Victor and Li-Ning dominate the tour; other brands can be fine for club play but hold less resale value |
| Weight class | Frames run from 2U (90-94g) down to 5U (75-79g); lighter is faster but less forgiving |
The BWF calendar runs almost year-round, with the next clutch of Super 500 and Super 750 events coming in July and August. Each one tends to generate a small but measurable wave of gear turnover as players reassess their setup. If badminton is your sport - or you have been curious about picking it up - checking what is available second-hand ahead of that wave is the smarter move than waiting for the post-tournament rush.
