Football on the table: how tekbol is conquering Asia and Olympic dreams

For the first time, tekbol has been included in the program of a multisport event on a continental scale, marking an important stage in the development of this dynamic sport. At the Asian Games, held in the Japanese city of Nagoya, the first sets of medals in this discipline were awarded. The event is seen by the ITF as a crucial step towards the eventual inclusion of the game in the Olympic program.

The success of the debut is largely due to the growing interest in tekball in the Asian region and support from global sports stars. A special role in the popularization was played by the legendary Spanish football player Carles Puyol, whose participation attracted additional attention to the competition. The federation is confident that the hybrid sport, combining elements of football and table tennis, has all the necessary characteristics for recognition by the International Olympic Committee.

On Sunday, the Higashi sports center became the arena for historic matches. Despite the modest capacity of the hall, designed for several hundred spectators, the atmosphere was saturated. The audience watched with interest the skill of athletes demonstrating high technique of ball control on the corporate curved table. ITF Secretary General Laszlo Wajda called the event an incredible milestone. In his opinion, the successful holding of the tournament in the status of a medal discipline at the Asian Games will demonstrate to the IOC a high level of involvement, audience coverage, relevance for young people and the overall attractiveness of the sport.

The history of tekbol goes back to the middle of the XX century, when Hungarian footballers used the exercise “foot tennis” with a leather ball through the net to practice technique. The modern version of the game appeared a little more than a decade ago thanks to the idea of two friends from Hungary - a former professional footballer and an IT specialist. Experimenting with playing football on a standard tennis table, they developed a special design with a curved surface. With the support of a Hungarian businessman, the project was commercialized, and in 2017 the International Tekbol Federation was founded, which has since held regular World Championships.

Although for an untrained viewer, tekbol may seem exotic, it organically fits into the program of the Asian Games, where other non-standard disciplines are presented, including e-sports and virtual taekwondo. For many of these species, getting to the Olympics is a top goal as it guarantees financial support and global recognition. Tekbol is at the beginning of this journey, actively building up a social media presence.

Carles Puyol, ex-Captain of Barcelona and player of the Spanish national team, held a master class for students of the local university and played with Asian bloggers before the official competition. The event focused on creating content for social media, highlighting the importance of digital promotion for the young sport. Puyol noted that many of the world's top clubs, such as Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona, are already using tekball tables in the training process. The Spanish athlete pointed to the benefits of the game for improving the technique and warm-up of professional footballers, and also expressed the opinion that the fascinating format will provide the sport with a great future.

The Asian region has shown particular enthusiasm for the new discipline. Tekbol has certain similarities with sepak tacrowe, a popular Southeast Asian sport where players kick the ball with their feet on a badminton-like court. Thailand, traditionally dominant in sepak tacro, has successfully converted its experience into successes in tekbol, winning three of the five possible titles at the Nagoya Games. However, the geography of the awards was wider: medals were distributed among athletes from different countries of the continent, from Kuwait to Japan.

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A vivid example of emotional uplift was the victory of the South Korean athlete Lee Jun-sook in the singles men's category. After beating an opponent from Iraq, he won a gold medal. The athlete admitted that he feels unprecedented happiness from achieving the goal, noting that he could not even imagine such a triumph, striving for the status of a medalist. This result confirms that tekbol is becoming a full-fledged part of Asian sports culture and is making confident steps towards global Olympic recognition.