A badminton tournament will draw people to Forker Building from all over the country this weekend.

The badminton club at Iowa State organized the event that is free for those who want to watch. 

There are 110 people signed up to play in the tournament March 29.

Check-in will begin at 8 a.m. March 29 and is expected to end around 6 p.m. For March 30 games, check-in begins at 8:30 a.m., and final rounds will begin at 9 a.m.

People are coming from a variety of states, including Illinois, Kansas, Texas and California.

Events include men’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles.

Each event is then broken down into 3 or 4 levels, based upon people’s skills in badminton.

Jinchen Fan, senior in marketing and president of the badminton club, said the most difficult part of organizing the tournament was making the brackets.

“Half of the players this year are new players,” Fan said.

He has to make sure people are placed in the correct levels in order to stay fair. Fan said he makes sure that each person is placed in the level most fit for him or her.

“We don’t want to put very good players in lower levels and win easy,” Fan said.

First and second places are given to players in each level. Winners will receive a prize and a trophy.

One of the biggest prizes is a $250 racket. All prizes are sponsored by Yonex and Sony Electronic. Fan said organizing the tournament cost about $15,000 just because the prizes are worth that much.

Within the brackets, there are 4 flights: A, B, C and D. If a player loses, he or she gets bumped down to a lower flight. Fan said they guarantee that each player will play three matches.

The badminton club has also been collaborating with other clubs on campus such as Enactus. 

Members of Enactus contribute their talents to projects that improve the lives of people worldwide. They share the mission of creating a better, more sustainable world through the power of business, according to the ISU Enactus Web page.

Enactus will have a table set up at the tournament to generate revenues.

Fan is participating in three events. When asked about how he felt about the upcoming tournament, he said he was excited but nervous as well.

“Badminton is a very difficult sport,” Fan said.

Ziqing Weng, graduate student in animal science and public relations coordinator for the badminton club, said she’s looking forward to the tournament.

Weng is signed up to play in the mixed doubles event.

“It’s fun for me,” Weng said.

The badminton club will host a closed tournament next fall, which will only be available to club members.

“I’m so excited to hear the sound of smashing,” Fan said. “I really enjoy when I play it; even if I’m really, really tired, I still want to go to the court.”

One of the badminton club’s goals is to generate more audience awareness of the sport and generate more attention from the community.