Sanya, China, September 8, 2019: The International Teqball Federation (FITEQ) has promised to put on a show for the spectators when the sport makes its debut in an Olympic Council of Asia event in 2020.
Teqball, which joined the OCA portfolio of sports in August 2018, is one of 17 confirmed sports for the OCA’s 6th Asian Beach Games in Sanya, Hainan Island, from November 28 to December 6, 2020.
With a slogan of “The World is Curved”, teqball is played on a table tennis-sized table that curves downwards at both ends. The players can use their football skills to keep the ball alive, controlling it with head, chest, legs or feet before returning the ball table tennis-like over the net.
FITEQ was established in March 2017 and has offices in Lausanne, Switzerland and Budapest, Hungary. The new sport is played in more than 120 countries across five continents.
Invented in Hungary, teqball is proving popular with football stars such as Ronaldinho, Messi and Maradona, who play the game to refine their touch, ball control and skills in a fun and friendly but competitive environment.
The Head of International Relations of FITEQ, Marius Vizer Jr, presented a short video at a meeting of the OCA Coordination Committee for the 6th ABG in Sanya on Sunday.
“We are definitely going to make a big show in the Asian Beach Games in 2020,” he said.
There will be three medal events over four days of competition at the 6th ABG: men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles. Each event will have 16 teams with a total of 96 athletes.
Teqball has already hosted two indoor world championships, in Budapest in 2017 with 20 nations and in Reims, France in 2018 with 42 nations, 3,000 spectators and 100,000 USD in prize money.
The 2019 African Beach Teqball Cup was held in Sal, Cape Verde, with 14 nations and 2,000 spectators.
FITEQ was also represented in Sanya by Matthew Curtain, Sport Director and Teqball Technical Delegate for the Asian Beach Games, and Lilla Horváth, Continental Development Manager, Asia.