What is Teqball? Your Guide to a New Sport
Teqball has been growing at such an alarming pace that the widespread sports community is noticing. It has especially earned recommendations from international soccer stars worldwide and its growth has been enhanced further due to its recognition by the Olympic committees in Asia and Africa.
Teqball is a non-contact sport that combines elements of soccer and table tennis. The sport is played using a size five football and a curved Teqball table on a rectangular court. Like tennis, you can play the game in singles, doubles, or mixed doubles formats.
When Was Teqball Invented And Where Was It Founded?
Ten years ago, ex-professional Hungarian soccer player, Gábor Borsányi, came up with the idea of Teqball due to his habit of playing a soccer ball on a ping pong table. With the help of fellow soccer enthusiasts, György Gattyán (Hungarian businessman) and Viktor Huszár (Computer Scientist), the ex-professional player developed the idea and invented the game of Teqball.
These three Hungarian soccer fans invented Teqball in 2012 in Hungary. Since then, the game has undergone several stages of development, including the design and creation of the first teqball table in 2014. A Brazilian soccer legend and an ambassador of teqball, Ronaldinho Gaucho officially presented Teqball to the world in Budapest, Hungary, on October 18, 2016.
What is a Teqball Table?
Despite getting the initial idea from a ping pong table, a Teqball table is unique because it has a curved surface that allows the ball to bounce out to each player.
When Gábor Borsányi came up with the idea of Teqball, he used to play a soccer ball on a ping pong table. However, the game was initially dull because it was hard for the ball to bounce to other players on the standard horizontal ping-pong table. He then decided to give the table a curved physique which allows the ball to bounce out to the player.
The curved Teqball table idea has been patented to safeguard the design and ensure the game’s future growth.
Additionally, instead of the standard net on a ping pong table, a teqball table has a transparent shatter-resistant plexiglass net at the centerline. This net can withstand the force of a soccer ball while it is in play to ensure that the games remain uninterrupted.
What Are the Teqball Table Dimensions?
A standard Teqball table is 3 meters long and 1.7 meters wide. Since the table has a curved physique, the highest point (in the middle of the table) is usually 0.76 meters above the ground, while the lowest point is 0.565 meters from the ground. The plexiglass net located at the center is 0.14 meters above the highest point on the table.
Is there a Teqball Ball?
The ball used for Teqball is a size five soccer ball with a circumference between 67 and 69 centimeters. The ball usually weighs between 420 and 435 grams at the start of a game. The ball pressure varies from 0.3 to 0.5 atmospheres at sea level.
Is There a Teqball Championship or World Cup?
The International Federation of Teqball (FITEQ) is the highest regulatory body for Teqball. It organized the first Teqball World Cup in Budapest, Hungary, in 2017. Because it was still early days, the competition only featured 20 countries in the singles and doubles categories.
FITEQ held the second Teqball World Cup in Reims, France, in October 2018. Ninety players participated in the competition in the singles and doubles events. Rather than have mixed doubles for the first two world cups, men and women were allowed to participate in the doubles event however they saw fit. This meant that a team containing two men could play against a team with a man and a woman.
In 2019, FITEQ introduced the mixed doubles competition in the world cup held in Budapest. A total of 160 athletes from 58 countries participated in the 2019 Teqball World Cup across singles, doubles, and mixed doubles competitions.
FITEQ suspended the 2020 Teqball World Cup due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. However, in December 2021, the next Teqball World Championship was hosted in Gliwice in Poland.
In the 2021 tournament, there were singles and doubles competitions for each of the male and female categories. FITEQ also introduced the mixed doubles competition featuring one male and one female player per team.
FITEQ’s efforts to achieve the inclusion of Teqball in the Olympics made a significant breakthrough when the Olympic Council in Asia officially recognized FITEC in 2018. It also recorded further success when the organization was formally recognized by the Olympic Councils in Africa and Oceania in 2019 and 2020 respectively. While there are still significant hurdles to cross to achieve the inclusion of Teqball in the Olympics, the future of the sport looks promising.
How to Play Teqball
A standard size five soccer ball is recommended to play the game either officially or unofficially and a curved Teqball table. Just like volleyball, Teqball allows each player or team to take a maximum of three touches before returning the ball to the opponent’s side of the table.
In a professional Teqball game, you can play a singles game (1v1), doubles game (2v2), or mixed doubles (2v2). For mixed doubles, you have a male and a female participant on each team.
Teqball is a game that is best of three sets where each set ends after one player/team reaches 12 points. A player/team must win the final set with at least a two-point margin.
Teqball Rules
The game starts with the first service. A player plays the ball from their side of the court with any part of the body (except the arms and hands) to the opponent’s part of the table. The ball must bounce on the opponent’s side of the table or it results in a faulty service. In the event of a faulty service, a player or team has a second chance to serve again before they lose the point.
Apart from the initial service, each team or player has a maximum of three touches to return the ball with any part of the body, excluding the hands and arms. It is not allowed for a player to touch the ball with the same body part in succession, or twice in a row.
While playing doubles or mixed doubles, teammates must pass to each other at least once before returning the ball to the opponent’s side of the table. None of the players can make contact with the opponent or the table while playing.
How Can I Play Teqball as a Hobby?
Despite being a professional sport, Teqball has been adopted as a hobby due to the flexible nature of some of its rules and the fact that it is a fun game for people of all ages and genders.
The exciting thing about playing Teqball as a hobby is that you can tweak many of the rules to your taste. Of course, some aspects of the game should remain the same whether you’re playing the game officially or as a hobby. For example, using a size five soccer ball is the standard. Also, whether you’re playing it professionally or as a hobby, you have to use the curved teqtable.
With a Teqball table and a size five soccer ball, you have all you need to play Teqball. Although the three official categories are singles, doubles, and mixed doubles, playing teqball as a hobby allows you to adjust the number of participants. If one of the players is much better than the others, you can play two against one to make it more of an exciting challenge.
Playing Teqball as a hobby does not require training. Anybody can play as long as they have the equipment which does not require a standard court. Any environment can work if you have a mobile table.
Instead of the standard three sets in official teqball, you can increase or decrease it to your taste when playing for fun. If there are too many participants and you don’t want to leave anyone out, you can play a rotational game where two players start and after each point, another player enters the fray to replace the loser. The game goes around until the required number of players acquire enough points to qualify for the next round while others are eliminated. This goes on until there are two finalists, who then play three sets to decide the winner.
When you play Teqball as a hobby, you can decide how you want to play it, and what standard rules you want to follow or adjust. The ball is in your court, literally and figuratively.
Benefits of Playing Teqball
Teqball is an exciting sport and hobby with numerous benefits to all participants. Playing it as a hobby helps to improve the player’s concentration, mental and physical skills, fitness, etc. The benefits of playing Teqball as a hobby include:
- Improve Ball Control and Passing Skills – Several professional soccer teams have adopted teqball tables in their training grounds to improve their players’ coordination, ball control, and passing skills.
- It Is a Pleasant Physical Exercise – Routine exercises like running, stretching, jumping, walking, jogging, etc. can become repetitive quickly and may require extra motivation to perform regularly. Playing Teqball as a hobby combines all these in one sport with the added benefit of having fun while building the player’s physical fitness.
- Helps to Improve Health Fitness – Teqball has numerous health benefits for players of all ages. The constant movement involved in the game helps burn calories, improve cardiovascular health, and reduce the risk of diabetes, stroke, and heart diseases. It also reduces the risk of obesity and lowers blood pressure, stress, and anxiety.
- Improves Mental Capacity – Unlike some other sports, Teqball requires quick decision-making and similarly fast execution of the player’s thoughts. This can lead to an improvement in the players’ mental capacity.
- Helps to Socialize – Strangers of all ages can connect and interact during a game. You don’t need to be familiar with each other before you can play Teqball with or against one another.
Teqball is Gaining Popularity
The second most followed non-Olympic sport behind Cricket on social media is growing fast. A sport that requires technical skill, concentration, and coordination, Teqball will soon become a household name. Get some friends, find a Teqball table, and try this new game. For more information, look for organizations such as Teqball USA.
For all the different hobbies we cover check out our master list of hobbies and activities.
