Teqball, the sport of players, lands in Madrid

Teqball, one of the sports coined in this century, She chose Spain as one of the places for her final drive. During the week from 13 to 19 March, the city of Madrid will host the third qualifying event for the European Championship (prizes worth 30 thousand euros) for a sport that can be loosely called table football with ping-pong, but which contains cutting-edge scientific information. Study angles that make it a more advanced product. The Galore Sports Center will, with free admission, be the stage for a third qualifying event towards the European Championships, which will take place from June 28 to July 1 in Krakow (Poland).

Almost 23 years ago, in the summer of 2000, Gabor Borsani said One of the founders of Teqball, an ordinary soccer player in the Hungarian second division, was on vacation at one of the Lake Balaton resorts. After a German player from the Bundesliga was challenged to play one of the table tennis tables developed during communism, Borsani accepted the challenge. It was not new for him that he grew up in a humble neighborhood of Ujpest, where he was with his friends, for a change of football routine, he had already played as a youngster at those tables.

Borsani won, but at the same time, he realized that it would be more fun if he used it For this purpose, a somewhat curved table in order to make it easier for soccer players to control and so that the ball never stops on the table. “Technology is very important to Teqball,” says its founder. For this, he allied himself with businessman Gyorgy Gatien and scientist Victor Huszar, his neighbor. In 2012 they laid the foundations with the creation of the prototype, to test curves of different degrees to create a fair and practical sport, and two years later it was already created. Like all great inventions, the garage was the first scenario.

Maximum three touches

The rules are, in essence, basic. It can be played individually or in pairs. Players have a maximum of three strokes to return a (slightly deflated) ball, without touching the ground, over the net to the opponent’s side. The ball cannot be touched with the hand and the same part of the body cannot be touched twice in a row. You also cannot return the ball with the same body part in the same play twice in a row. In other words, if you return with your head, the next time you return the ball cannot be returned with your head, it can only be controlled.

You cannot touch the table and you cannot jump, one foot must always be on the ground. The first to reach 12 points wins the set (best of three matches). In doubles, it is required that each member of the pair touch the ball once. There are two attempts per serve and every four points the serve changes. The fact that it’s a mix of tennis, volleyball, and soccer means flexibility plays a huge role. Many actions are reminiscent of kicks in martial arts.

Boursani and his partners founded the International Federation in 2017. In just six years, it has already reached more than 40 countries, with huge penetration ability in the United States, as well as countries surrounding founding Hungary such as Macedonia, Serbia and Romania. So is Brazil, a country where football talent promises huge potential. Soccer players like Marcelo, Ronaldinho, Neymar, Luis Suarez, Messi or women’s soccer star Carli Lloyd … are ambassadors of the game or already have these tables at home. “We are ready for the challenge,” says President Borsani, who dreams of being included in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

“We’ve come a long way, but there’s still a long way to go. We’ve achieved so much in such a short time, but having our first continental championship is a huge success for everyone involved in Teqball. This sport was born in the old continent, so it was natural for us to start with the European Championships, however, our plan is to follow this event soon with other continental finals.”