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Bob of the birdie: Badminton's serious business for Marblehead man

By Alan Burke
Staff writer
Published: November 14, 2008

MARBLEHEAD — Badminton isn't the game you think it is. That was the point of a recent TV commercial where burly Red Sox slugger David Ortiz and bruising Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher challenged two Olympians to a game.

In the VitaminWater spot, Ortiz blasts the birdie at such a high velocity it lodges in his opponent's leg. But don't worry, says Bob Malaythong, 27, of Marblehead. Despite his look of agony, it didn't really hurt.

"It's meant to be funny," he says with a laugh.

The birdie, or shuttlecock, was sliced in half and glued to Malaythong's leg.

"They're great guys," he says of his opponents. "It was fun goofing around with them."

He hesitates when asked if they are good at badminton.

"If they started when they were 8 years old. ... It took them awhile to get it. But at least they respect the sport."

Badminton matters to Malaythong. Along with teammate Howard Bach, he reached the quarterfinals in the Beijing Games, the best showing by an American team ever.

"It was an honor," he says of the opportunity to represent the United States.

In the aftermath, he retired as a player and signed on to coach Marblehead Youth Badminton. Tomorrow and Sunday at 8 a.m., his team will participate in the New England Junior Open at Marblehead High School.

Teams and players will be coming from across the country. About 70 are scheduled to compete, including Malaythong's Marblehead team of about 25. The results will play a role in the players' national rankings for the 2009 Junior Nationals in California.

Coaching American kids, Malaythong says, bringing their skills up toward the Olympic level, "is my passion." He warns that it's not a sport for the faint of heart. Good players train more than six hours a day, six days a week.

"To be coached by an Olympic athlete is pretty thrilling," parent Diane Sears says. And she notes that badminton internationally is a far different game than the one Americans know. For one, it's an indoor sport.

"To see it at the top level," she says, "the shuttlecock goes at 200 mph. ... It's astounding." Millions of Asians play, making it likely that badminton is the second most popular game in the world, after soccer.

For his part, Malaythong picked up his first racket in his native Laos, where he was known as Khan instead of Bob. The youngest of eight, he left most of his family behind when he moved to the United States in 1990, following two sisters.

It was no casual thing. Moving to America cost thousands of dollars.

"It was a big decision," he says. "But I'm glad they made it. I was lucky to be the youngest one."

The goal was to find a better life, a better future. "If you live in Laos, you have no further education than high school. Coming to America got me to study. To get a good job."

Malaythong speaks with no accent and has adopted the name "Bob." A naturalized citizen since 2006, he pronounces himself "fully Americanized," even as he still pays tribute to his Laotian culture. "I still remember my roots." Badminton, played everywhere in Laos, is part of that.

His world now includes a view of Marblehead Harbor and an almost evangelical calling to spread the game he loves across his new country.

"I feel like an American," he says. Khan has faded to the background. It even says "Bob" on his passport.

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