China Central Television recently reported on a robot that can play badminton, a technological development that must strike at least a little fear in the hearts of world-class players like Lee Chong Wei, Ratchanok Intanon, and Hans-Kristian Vittinghus. (Yes, I Googled those. But I am not ashamed because now I know that some of the world's best badminton players have incredibly cool names.)

We all think we're good at badminton

What I want to know is: how long do you think you could last against it? I mean, come on, we all think we're really great at badminton, right? It was the kind of lazy activity that non-sports types looked forward to the most in grade school gym class. You'd do the warmup activities, jog around the room, and then you'd wait with bated breath to see what the gym teachers would roll out of the closet. Scooter basketball? SWEET. Faux dodgeball? Alright! Badminton? Hooray, at least we're not running the mile!

But the leisurely sport of badminton would feel much more sinister if you were playing against a robot that never gets tired. This one obviously has some bugs that need to be worked out, but it's much better than I imagined a badminton robot could be. So what do you think?