A curious-looking curved table bisected by a net in the middle, which may pass off as a table tennis table at first glance has become the centre of attraction at an artificial football turf at Kadavanthra.
And in a way, the sport that goes by the name teqball, for which the table is meant, has indeed elements of table tennis though a football is used to play it.
The rules governing the sport is also mostly drawn from football in that any part of the body except arms and hands can be used to play it back and forth.
Tracing its origin to Hungary back in 2012, teqball, though still largely alien in this part of the world, has had gained immense popularity since then and has become the favourite pastime of professional footballers showcasing their skills. It is governed by the International Federation of Teqball (FITEQ) and Teqball India.
“We are the first to introduce it anywhere in Kerala. The sport is best for honing football skills like ball control and can grow on those who find their groove. We plan to offer training sessions in the sport as part of our larger objective to develop football and giving youngsters a chance to play in the district, State and even national-level teqball contests,” said Duleep Menon, co-founder & CEO of Gamma Football, which has introduced the sport at their turf and sports centre at Kadavanthra.
It can be played both as singles and doubles game. The ball will have to be sent to the other side of the table in three touches and when it comes to doubles, both players should have at least one touch though the same body part cannot be used for those three touches.
It is played in three sets of 12 points each.
“The table deployed at our turf has evoked much interest mixed with curiosity and we also encourage youngsters to have a go at it, which many of them are doing. The curved shape of the table is meant to control the bounce, giving players enough manoeuvrability,” said Mr. Menon.
Plans are afoot to deploy more such teqball tables, which are not locally available but have to be imported from Europe. Of the three variants of table available, the turf operators have gone for the weather-proof and portable one.
As of now, the use of the table is for free to introduce and popularise the sport among youngsters but will be a paid facility for slots of 30 minutes to an hour after the formal inauguration scheduled for Tuesday next. The inauguration will be followed by a small tournament involving 8-10 players.