Fast-rising teqball crashes SEA Games party
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Thailand's Jutatip Kuntatong (centre) with teammate Suphawadi Wongkhamchan (left) in their women's doubles group stage teqball match against Cambodia.
PHOTO: AFP
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PHNOM PENH – As teqball continues its fast growth with its debut at the SEA Games, the young sport has drawn resentful glances from similar sports in the region that feel it is treading on their turf.
Played on a curved table, it melds elements of football, volleyball and table tennis. Players – alone or in pairs – trade shots without using their arms. The catch is they cannot use the same body part twice consecutively.
Singapore’s Sharifah Nur Amanina, 15, was among the winners at the Games in Cambodia on Monday, as she emerged triumphant in the women’s singles by defeating Indonesia’s Yunita Indria 12-11, 12-8 in the final.
However, the medals do not count towards the overall tally as teqball is a demonstration sport at these Games.
In the women’s doubles final, the Thai duo of Suphawadi Wongkhamchan and Jutatip Kuntatong cruised to a 12-3, 12-2 win over Cambodia’s Yem Neardey and Yorn Sophornraksmey. The Thais also won the mixed doubles, with Phakpong Dejaroen and Suphawadi defeating Cambodia’s Bun Thuonvireak and Soun Ravi 12-3, 12-6 in the final.
One reason Thailand excels at the sport is a pre-existing love for the game of sepak takraw, a similar sport popular around the region, played on something more resembling a volleyball court.
Fahrish Khan, of the Singapore men’s doubles team who beat Brunei in their last group game but did not progress, noted the overlap.
“We play football. But you see a lot of them are sepak takraw players. It’s very different,” said the 27-year-old, who partnered Fariz Faizal.
“The difference is they know how to kill,” he said, referring to the bouncing winners that the Thai team reeled off with elan.
Marton Keresztury, from governing body Fiteq, said teqball will have more events in Asia soon. He noted that the sport risked butting heads with sepak takraw.
“The players who are here, they come from (sepak takraw). Sometimes you have clashes with sepak takraw federations because they don’t want to let their players play teqball. That’s why it’s developing slowly in Asia,” he said.
“I think 80 per cent of the players from all nations come from sepak takraw.
“It’s easy to get some skills from sepak takraw, but if you want to have all the skills, you have to play more teqball.”
Teqball, which is also on the schedule for the European Games in Poland in June and July, already has more than 151 national federations, leading its backers to call it “the fastest-growing sport in the world”.
Top international football teams, including Spain and Portugal, bond over games of teqball during downtime, and stars such as Brazilian footballer Ronaldinho have become ambassadors for the game.
“In Europe, North America, South America, it’s more developed than in Asia,” said Keresztury. “So here, it’s just starting slowly.” AFP
