Fight against teqball Borneo Bulletin Online

Fadhil Yunus

Many country enthusiasts are still unfamiliar with teqball as a sport; even hearing about it seems to be a rarity, not to mention sports.

In the relatively new sports industry, teqball is widely played abroad. It was introduced in Brunei Darussalam last year to encourage the community to lead an active and healthy lifestyle.

It combines elements of football and table tennis, played mainly on a curved table. Initially, the founder of the sport used a ping pong table. However, the innovation inspires the creation of an arc-shaped teqboard table that typically measures three meters inwards, 1.5 meters wide and 0.76 meters high.

The sport was invented in 2012 in Hungary, inspired by three individuals – former footballer Gabor Borsanyi, computer scientist Viktor Huszar and Hungarian businessman Gyorgy Gattyan.

The sport can be played in two classes, single and double, regardless of gender. The scoring format is based on collecting points and the final score for each series is 12. The match is traditionally played in a maximum of three rounds.

The sport can be played on any flat surface, such as beaches, parks, halls and more. Teqball can also be played with a ball used in football.

The rules for this sport are pretty simple. Each player must return the ball to any part of the body except the hands and arms.

In August 2018, the Asian Olympic Committee (OCA) formally recognized FITEQ, the highest governing body for sport, and in June 2019, the Association of African National Olympic Committees (ANOCA).

In November 2020, FITEQ achieved full membership as a member of the Global Association of International Sports Federation (GAISF).

Brunei Darussalam demonstrated its interest in a fast-growing sport by establishing the Brunei Teqball Association (BTA) in December 2020 after receiving approval from several authorities, including the Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council and the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

With the establishment of the association, Brunei Darussalam became the Fifth Country controlled by the association in the region after Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and East Timor, leading to their membership in the International Teqball Federation (FITEQ), which is teqball and para teqball.

The Brunei Teqball Association (BTA) is led by Shukri Haji Damit as President, Hamdillah Matuss as Vice President. Other senior members include Khairul Mat Salleh and Alawi as Treasurer and Secretary General.

FITEQ is responsible for organizing international level tournaments and mainly teqball world championships.

The categories competed in the competition included a men’s and women’s singles, a men’s and women’s couple, and a mixed game.

Meanwhile, international championships include the World Cup, World Series, Teqball Masters, Grand Prix, Challenger Cup and National Challenger Series.

According to Shukri Haji Damit, among other things, BTA’s goal is to plan and develop athletes, officials, coaches and find new talents.

The establishment of the BTA provides an opportunity to select teqball athletes to represent the country in overseas tournaments.

Shukri added that the association wants to develop sports in the country by planning various initiatives such as disseminating sports to all four districts of the country.

There are also plans to have discussions with the Ministry of Education about the sport to be presented to students. In addition, as part of BTA’s efforts to present sports to the public, BTA has repeatedly organized demonstration events.

BTA has received 58 teqball tables from FITEQ and will hold an opening competition in due course.