a sport at the crossroads of football and table tennis.
The Marseille neighborhoods meet around the Teqball Tour final this Friday, August 18 from 5 p.m. at the Old Port. A sport born from a cross between football and table tennis which tends to become institutionalized.
« Teqball »: an unknown discipline for most of us. It all started in 2015 when a Hungarian ex-footballer imagined a different way of playing football. When he was younger, Gabor Borsanyi used to play with his friends in the Ujpest district. Tired of traditional football techniques, he reinvented this sport by mixing it with table tennis. With the help of Viktor Huszar, a computer scientist, they decide to establish rules for this new art. As in football, it is forbidden to hit the ball with the hands. As in table tennis, it is mandatory to bounce the ball on the table.
To play, a « teqboard » table is essential. Curved, it allows the ball to bounce and makes sports more enjoyable. A soccer ball, one player facing the other and the start is given. It is also possible to play in duplicates, but be careful the ball must bounce on the opponent’s board.
What makes the practice of this sport more fashionable is its adoption by the greatest players in the world, such as Lionel Messi or Neymar Jr. However, in France, this game was already played in schoolyards or in feet of buildings. « When we were little, we liked to play this game in the neighborhood, we called it « Brazilian » but we didn’t have a table, we did with the means at hand », tells us Fallah Mansoiboufounder of the association « Voyons Plus Loin » which organizes the Teqball Tour in Marseille.
Since the arrival of this new sport practice in France, Fallah Mansoibou did not hesitate for a second to adopt him in the city of Marseille. « I like novelty, so by offering this different activity, they were, at first, surprised not to play with a racket, but gradually with training, the passion arrived », he confides.
The qualifications took place in different districts: Costs Vallon, La Soude, busserin, AirbelFelix pyat. From the northern districts to the southern districts via the city center, everyone was invited to play. For the final playground, the Tournament of Teqball stopover at the old port, an emblematic place that brings together all marseille. For some, the lack of mobility is an obstacle to these inter-neighbourhood encounters. So this event is a godsend to finally play together.
« Inclusive, mixed and intergenerational. » Fallah Mansoibou insists: these notions are the pillars of his working method. At each tournament, only one person was qualified by district, to finally compete in the grand final which takes place this Friday, August 19 on the quai de la fraternité, in the 13,001.
It’s the end of the adventure for this tournament of Teqball Marseille but the beginning of a new challenge: the national final at the end of the year, which will be played in Marseille at the Palais des Sports. The city is in the spotlight and Fallah Mansoibou rejoices: « I am happy to say to myself that Marseille has contributed to developing the Teqball at national scale. I had good feedback from the Federation of teq ball France. We are trusted. »
Last year, for the first tournament of this kind in France, there were two natives of Marseille from 15th borough who won the national final: Walid Soudi and Neili Rahal. Fallah Mansoibou keeps a memory that he is not about to forget and that motivates him to develop this discipline at the level local and national. « When they won, we went to Paris to meet Nathalia Guilershe is an influencer and a big world football star with 2 million subscribers on social networks. He is a reference in the world of sport and a close friend of Neymar Jr.. Their eyes were sparkling, it was gorgeous ». To share their experiences, and put their title back into play, the two champions of Teqball will be present tomorrow from 5 p.m..
Restore hope. It is the main aspiration of Fallah Mansoibou. IHe wishes more than anything to give young people the possibility, through « an animation that takes place at the bottom of their homes », to open up the field of possibilities.
This year, the stakes are high. For the future winners of the national tournament of Teqball French in 2023, it will be possible to take part in the competition at the international level which will take place in Brazil. Enough to keep the players determined. To try your luck and learn about this new sport, new clubs will be put forward. The town hall and the metropolis wish perpetuate this project by setting up T equipmenteqboard throughout Marseille.
« It’s like table football, we are doing everything we can to have it everywhere so that everyone can train for the next few years, once ready, there will be selections according to levels and each player will be able to enter competitions » Explain Fallah Mansoibouwho sees the future in a big way. « Today, I would like Marseille to be a laboratory for the development of Teqball ». For him, everything is conducive to institutionalizing this sport in Marseille: « The landscape, climate, structures… playing indoors or outdoors is a real advantage offered by the town ».
On the program, an entertaining, fun and sporting tournament. To begin, it is possible to learn before the start of the matches. Between the duels of the finalists, guests: Lbird Tyson, emblematic Marseille influencer as well as Moussa Camera and Almamy Kanoute, movie actors Wretched will compete around the « teqboard ». To close, the spectators will attend a show and the awards ceremony. OM, accompanied by FootKorner, will make an endowment and gifts, in the hope of pleasing to the big winners and to motivate young people Marseilles to participate in the next season.
