TEQ SRI LANKA
Baby of international sport Teqball which was introduced to the mainstream only in 2017 will be a part of the Asian Beach Games – Sanya 2020 which will be held from April 2 to 10 in 2021 in China. This is the first such athletic event taking in the post-COVID-19 period.
The great news for Sri Lanka they too would be participating in this IOC recognised event along with the other 72 nations who will be involved with the curved table sport.
The good news for Lankan Teqball does not end there. As this sport has sprouted from the giant Football, Sri Lanka is in a huge membership drive and are trying to set up new members in Universities, schools and others. Why? Fédération Internationale de Teqball (FITEQ) has donated 60 Teq tables to Sri Lanka worth more than five million rupees.
Teq Sri Lanka
The Game Teqball is not a new game for Sri Lankans. It is very similar to the game which was mainly played by the lower rungs of the population early days and it was named “Raga”. However, “Raga” was played with a Cain ball and the game mainly was a balancing act with the feet not involving the two hands. Teqball has the same characteristics.
In February 2020 the NOC Sri Lanka granted permission to establish a National Federation for Teqball which represents affiliated twenty-five sports agencies island-wide.
Speaking to GoodSport Teqball Chief of Sri Lanka Gamani Jayasinghe said “We are in an earnest drive to popularise of Teqball in Sri Lanka also to produce professional athletes – Teq Lankans who would enter the international arena with zest. Right now the membership drive that we are conducting is also a huge success. Our main aim is to have a competitive Lankan team taking part at the Sanya Games. The sport started only in 2017 and all teams who are in it are only not masters of the sport and on a good day even a team from Sri Lanka would be able to beat one of the better teams from Europe.”
Introduction to Teqball
Teqball was invented in 2014 in Hungary and is a new football-based sport, which is perfectly suitable for professional footballers. Teqball is a sport that can be played anytime and anywhere, indoor and outdoor, and even on beaches, regardless of age and gender which played over a curved table. It is a pure type of football and there is no physical contact between the players. Therefore, injuries can never take place in the game or during practice.
The sport follows a points-based scoring format and can be played on various surfaces such as sand, acrylic or indoors. Teqball allows players a maximum of three touches before returning the ball to the opponent.
Establishment of International Federation of Teqball (FITEQ)
The FITEQ is the governing body presiding over teqball and para teqball and established in March 2017. Its offices are based in Lausanne (SUI) and Budapest (HUN), the sport has enjoyed rapid growth over the last few years as a result of increasing athlete participation, a growing fan base and the development of strategic partnerships.
International Recognition
FITEQ strives to achieve recognition by the global sporting community and to ultimately have Teqball officially recognised as an Olympic sport. The recognition process is already well underway with FITEQ successful in achieving official recognition by the Olympic Council of Asia in August 2018, and the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa ANOCA in June 2019.
Popularising the sport
“I am sure that the game of Teqball could be popularised in Sri Lanka. The game is comparatively inexpensive and is globally recognised. At the same time, even a team from Sri Lanka would have equal opportunities because it is a non-contact game.
“Right now we have established around twenty-five clubs who are actively participating in the game and we are expecting at least another 30-50 new teams joining the forces by the end of the year. Those teams will be lucky because the Teqball Federation will be in a position to provide them with the necessary gear with the donations that we have received from The Fédération Internationale de Teqball” Said Gamini Jayasinghe in conclusion.
Evolve is forever motion. Confirming ourselves to sport, almost all sports especially the most popular ones have also experienced the motion of change over a period of time and sometimes have branched out into separate sports that have Olympic status. For instance, tennis, table tennis and badminton to a great extent could be put into that slot. The scoring systems are somewhat similar, but only the apparatus are different, but, you get the racquet, court and the net. On the other hand football or soccer is so common and infectious, there is no boy I guess through the bigger margin of the globe who has not dribbled the football and tried to score a goal.
The game of football is so big; it is a billion-dollar business and at times even tilts the blue chips in the worlds. So, if someone tries to pull the table out of the racquet game and put a football there what would they call it.....a Platypus? No, they call it Teqball and mind you; it is gathering momentum in the world and in a big way it and even has set foot on Sri Lanka too.
The way Wikipedia explains it Teqball is a ball sport that resembles table tennis but is played on a curved table with a ball similar to a football, and the players can hit the ball with any part of the body except the hands. Teqball can be played between two players as a singles game, or between three or four players as a doubles game.
The game is represented at an international level by the Fédération Internationale de Teqball (FITEQ). A number of world-class footballers have been attracted by the game, and after being included at the African Beach Games, the sport is now aiming for Olympic inclusion.
History
Teqball was invented in 2014 in Hungary by two football enthusiasts, Gábor Borsányi, a former professional player and Viktor Huszár, a computer scientist.
The responsibility of taking Teqball to Sri Lanka has come upon the former hockey federation secretary Gamini Jayasinghe – the President of Teqball who always has an eye for adventure. He said initially the game was introduced to the Olympic Committee Secretary General Maxwell de Silva by Marius Vizer Jr – General Secretary of Teqball and de Silva, in turn, asked Jayasinghe if he wished to set up the game in Sri Lanka last year. Jayasinghe explained: “By nature I like challenges. So last year I held the initial AGM and got the ball rolling, and we had our first workshop at the Prisons Dept Premises. But, still, the game of Teqball is new to us. At present we have about five clubs involved with the game, but still, we are engaged to makeshift play stations because we are awaiting the Teqball tables to be brought to Sri Lanka by the FITEQ.
“We are also happy to announce that the federation has five tables and five balls to set the ball rolling in the five clubs. Tomorrow, we are expecting the presence of Marius Vizer Jr to officially inaugurate the game of Teqball in Sri Lanka and from there we are hoping to move forward as fast as we could.”
