Badminton vs. Extremism: When Opposites Attract

The latest casualty of extremism is Badminton.

Lashkar-e-Taiba is an extremist Muslim group based in Pakistan that has threatened the safety of Badminton players at the World Championships in India, forcing the English team to withdraw and return home.

Badminton? Yes. Really? Yes. Surprising? No, because we all knew it was inevitable.

Badminton floats gently at the mild end of the sports spectrum; a stiff breeze renders the game nigh impossible to play. It's affectionately and somewhat tolerantly known as 'an indoor sport.'

Lashkar-e-Taiba is an extremist group; this means its members like extreme things- be it sport, food, weather or belief systems.

Life being as it is, opposites are often known to attract. This week, Badminton and religious extremism attracted each other, as we all knew one day they must.

One irate extremist, whose name wasn't Murderous-Glare but looked as if it should have been, issued a brief statement explaining the group's political agenda and its grudge against Badminton, but studies have repeatedly shown that what we don't know can't hurt us, so we decided it was safer not to listen.

What we do know is that the Badminton players were foolish enough to believe their lackadaisical attitude and slack approach to sport would never catch up with them.

Well, now it has. And what's more, it's inconsolably angry and it's got guns.