New Games for Muscat 2010 - Sepaktakraw and Woodball will be introduced in the second Asian Beach Games hosted by the Sultanate next year.

Times of Oman 7/4/2009
 

“We are ready for the Muscat 2010 Asian Beach Games and we are proud to inform that Sepaktakraw and Woodball is being introduced in our calendar,” said Habib bin Abdul Nabi Macki, president of Oman Olympic Association (OAA) at a press conference here yesterday.

Sepaktakraw or kick volleyball is a sport native to southeast Asia, resembling volleyball, except that it uses a rattan ball and only allows players to use their feet, knee, chest and head to touch the ball.

It is popular in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Laos, Philippines and Indonesia.

“Sepaktakraw is generally played on a badminton double sized court and the match is played between two teams consisting of three players. When either serving side or receiving side commits a fault, a point is awarded to the opponent side including making next service. The winning point for a set is 21 points,” explained Salim Said Mansoor Al Mufadhali, director of national team affairs department.

The officials from Malaysia and Thailand including the vice-president of Asian Sepaktakraw will be coming to Oman to introduce and demonstrate the game.

Lawn game

“These officials will be touring all over Oman including Muscat, Musannah, Salalah, Bathinah and Sharqiyah. They will also train the referee teams,” Macki said.

Although, Woodball is a new sport in Asia, it was first introduced in Asian Beach Games in Bali.

The sport was invented in Taipei in 1996. The sport is recognised by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) because it is played in more than 30 countries across the world, 28 of them in Asia, Macki said.

Woodball is a lawn game. Players use mallets to tee off on the fairway and hit the ball through several gates in accordance with the rules.

“The competitor who completes the round or rounds in the fewest strokes is the winner. The games features individual and team Woodball competitions, with each team comprising of two to four players,” said Ahmed Darwish Al Balushi, head of sports at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Bausher while speaking to the media yesterday.

Darwish pointed out that Oman would be the first country in AGCC to introduce this game.

Asked if Oman will field a Woodball and Sepaktakraw team for the Asian Games, Salim said that OAA has been in contact with various schools and colleges in the Sultanate to identify players who are interested in these two major sports but he also said it was too early to answer about forming a team to compete in the Asian Games. “ At this stage, it is too early to answer but we are in consultation with various authorities concerned."

"To form a team is not that easy. We have to first form a committee which are already under processing and once that is done we will think of fielding a team to compete,” Salim added.

Kabbadi, a team sport from the Indian subcontinent will also be introduced and a team comprising experts in this game will be arriving in Oman soon.

“This game (Kabbadi) is certainly in our scheme of things and will be introduced in Muscat 2010,” said Macki who was elected as the chairman of Basketball Association last week.

World-class tourism

Meanwhile, Macki informed that the construction work of the Asian Beach Games site in Wudam Al Sahil is progressing in full swing and the site would be functional in time for the games in December 2010.

“As host of the 2nd Asian Beach Games event, we have the chance to demonstrate the country’s natural beauty, traditional hospitality and ability to create world-class tourism and sporting destinations,” Macki said.