KAOHSIUNG (Taiwan) - SOUTH Africa's Ayanda Ikaneng and her team mates will pull their weight at the World Games in Taiwan this week, hoping to earn a medal in tug-of-war and enhance the reputation of the former Olympic sport.

Ikaneng said the sport, known for its unrivalled simplicity as a test of raw strength, could gain momentum in South Africa if they returned winners, boosting its chances of an Olympic return.

Tug-of-war is one of more than 30 sports adjudged to lack the popular appeal and geographical spread to warrant a place at the Olympic Games and so make up the schedule at the quadrennial World Games. The Olympics dumped tug-of-war in 1920 after 20 years to focus on individual events.

'Not a lot of people feel that it's an ideal sport,' said the 17-year-old student, who has practiced for a year. 'But if we bring something back home, that's good for it.'

Only 300 people bought tickets at $3 (S$4.35) apiece to the World Games tug-of-war matches on Saturday. Still, tension filled the air as teams from six countries took to a grassy field with shouts and grimaces, straining muscles from neck to heel.

Spectator Sammy Chen, 26, went because he was forced to play tug-of-war in grade school and wanted to see how professionals from other countries did it.

'Of course if the ticket prices were higher, you wouldn't see so many people out here,' Chen said.

In official competition, teams of eight with equal combined body weights can pull for as long as 10 minutes, but usually last just one or two before someone yanks back hard enough on the 36-metre hemp rope to win.

The sport began around 500 BC among Greek athletes and remains popular in Europe as a team-building exercise and even an antidote to drinking. Asian athletes were fascinated by its use of teamwork to do what individuals could not, said Yin Yu-pu of Taiwan's tug-of-war association.

Like Ikaneng, other athletes hope tug-of-war will be taken more seriously. 'It was any Olympic sport in the beginning, so we have a chance to get back in,' said Co Koren, International World Games Association secretary general. -- REUTERS