Teqball is a ball sport that is played over a curved table combining elements of soccer and table tennis. Back and forth, the players hit a soccer ball with any part of the body except arms and 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 International Teqball Federation. 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.
Teqball table
The curved teqball table is unique to teqball. It measures 3 m in length and is 1.7 m wide with the highest point at 0.76 m in the middle of the playing surface where the net is installed separating the surface into two parts. The two outer edges of the width are 0.565 m above the ground.
Rules
The teqball table is in the center of the playing field. While teqball can be played with any soccer ball, size 5 is the official ball. The ball has to be kept off the ground after only one bounce on the table. Two attempts are allowed for service and service changes every four points. Up to three touches are allowed for a ball return whereby no body part can be used twice in a row and touching by arms and hands is disallowed. A match is won by the best-of-three sets, a set going to 12 points. Touching the table or the opponent is not allowed. If the ball touches the edge of the table, no point is given and a new rally starts.
The Teqball World Cup is an annual competition organised by FITEQ. The World Cup has both Singles and Doubles competitions with men and women participating together. The first Teqball World Cup was held in Budapest, Hungary in 2017 with more than 20 participating nations. The 2018 version of the event was held on October 12–13 in Reims, France with a total of 90 players participating. The 2019 Teqball World Championships played from 6 to 8 December in Budapest. Around 158 athletes representing 57 countries competed across singles, doubles and mixed doubles events.
