The tournament affirms the position of Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnam
The 2024 Teqball World Championship in Ho Chi Minh City from December 4-8, 2024 attracted 221 athletes from 95 countries and territories around the world, with a total of 301 matches. This is the largest Teqball tournament ever, in the 10th year that this sport has officially been born and created a strong influence in the world.
According to statistics from FITEQ through intermediaries, the 2024 Teqball World Championship in Ho Chi Minh City was widely broadcast in more than 70 countries and territories around the world, with more than 338 newspapers, TV channels, and news sites from abroad reporting on the event, including two major channels, ESPN and Eurosport. On the final day of December 8, 2024 alone, the number of interactions from these 338 units reached 97,169,166.
Mr. Gabor Borsanyi - President of the International Teqball Federation (FITEQ), co-founder of Teqball - emphasized that the tournament in Ho Chi Minh City was perfect because of Vietnam's energy and hospitality, as well as the thoughtful and professional organization, contributing to creating friendship and solidarity between countries and territories around the world.
Teqball Development Prospects in Vietnam
Talking to Lao Dong, the leader of Saigon Sports Investment Company Limited, who is also the representative of FITEQ in Vietnam, shared: “We have been lobbying FITEQ to bring this sport to Vietnam from 2022. Operating in the sports field, we have seen that Teqball, although only established in 2014, has developed strongly, with 150 member federations, present in 165 countries and territories around the world.
More importantly, this is a sport with the potential to be included in the Olympics and can be included in the official competition program in the near future. It is a sport with achievements, a complete organizational structure, clear competition rules, creating transparency and clarity. With that, countries that want to develop can build a clear roadmap for developing facilities, training athletes, and popularizing professional knowledge and competition rules.
Before the 2024 Teqball World Championship in Ho Chi Minh City, FITEQ coordinated with Binh Dinh to organize the Teqball World Championship in mid-2024, attracting the participation of 153 teams from 53 countries and territories.
For Ho Chi Minh City, the development potential of Teqball is even greater. In mid-2024, a delegation from the Department of Culture and Sports of Ho Chi Minh City conducted a survey and study trip to Hungary and Spain, where the Teqball movement is the most developed in the world. The local sports industry also assigned Hoa Lu Sports Center (District 1) to take on the responsibility of managing and developing the movement for Teqball in Ho Chi Minh City. Initially, the unit created a pioneering team to play this sport, established a team to train and compete in the recent tournament.
Mr. Tran Duy Kham - Director of Hoa Lu Sports Center - said: "Any sport that wants to develop needs a solid foundation for the movement. Teqball has just been introduced to Ho Chi Minh City for a few months, currently we are waiting for FITEQ to transfer training and competition tables. At this time, many districts, counties, and universities are ready to develop this sport."
Teqball is a unique combination of table tennis, soccer and sepak takraw - a sport that Vietnam is quite strong at. With its widespread popularity, this sport promises to bring glory to Vietnamese sports in international sports tournaments in the near future.
“Teqball has quite similar techniques to sepak takraw. If Vietnam transfers some sepak takraw athletes to training, I think development will be fast because of the advantage of professional techniques. The problem is that athletes have to practice more to have a good feeling because the Teqball ball bounces more than sepak takraw. I think if this sport is directed to the ASIAD or Olympics, not only Vietnam but also Southeast Asia will support it because it has a lot of potential to develop,” shared Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy - former 2006 ASIAD sepak takraw champion.
(Posted on the special edition of Lao Dong Xuan At Ty)
