Today’s word of the day, thanks to the New York Times, is throng. Throng can be a noun or a verb, and as a verb it can be transitive (it takes a direct object) or intransitive. As a noun, it means “a multitude of people crowded or assembled together” or “a great number of things crowded or considered together” (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/throng). As a verb, it can mean “to assemble, collect, or go in large numbers; crowd” (intransitive) or “to crowd or press upon; jostle,” “to fill or occupy with or as with a crowd,”to bring or drive together into or as into a crowd, heap, or collection,” or “to fill by crowding or pressing into” (transitive) (ibid.). Now, I have to admit that using throng as a transitive verb is unfamiliar.

The noun form first appears in English “c. 1300, probably shortened from Old English geþrang ‘crowd, tumult’ (related to verb þringan ‘to push, crowd, press’), from Proto-Germanic *thrangan (source also of Old Norse þröng, Dutch drang, German Drang ‘crowd, throng’)” (https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=throng). The verb form mean “to press or crush” appears in English around 1400, and the meaning “to go in a crowd” appears in the 1530s (ibid.).

Today is a sports day. The Elite Eight games will come on later today in NCAA men’s basketball while on the women’s side they are still finishing up Sweet Sixteen games. The major league baseball season has begun, and there will be games on all afternoon and evening, if you have subscribed to the correct app. After an international break, the European football leagues are all playing (Chelsea drew with Burnley despite being up a goal and up a man at the intermission) and the MLS will have games on tonight. There will be ice hockey and NBA basketball on during the day. There is even UFL American football on today, meaning that all the major sports are playing in America today.

But as I was working on my finances and flipping channels this afternoon, I came across something new. Teqball.

Teq what? Teqball.

So imagine a sport that combines soccer and ping pong. If you’re familiar with pickleball, you know that it is like a combination of tennis, ping pong, and badminton. It’s been around since 1967. But Teqball has been around since only 2014.

It was invented by three men, all football (soccer) enthusiasts, one a former professional footballer, Gábor Borsányi. “The creative idea came from Borsányi, who used to play football on a table tennis table. The horizontal design of the table made the ball often not bounce to the players, so this game was not enjoyable. Borsányi thought that if the table were bent, the arched surface could help the ball bounce to the foot. After several years of development with [Viktor] Huszár, the first teqball table was made in 2014” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teqball).

So you have an arched table with a net in the middle. Here is the summary on the wiki:

“Teqball can be played with balls used in football, with size five being official and recommended.
Teqball can be played by two players (singles game) or by four players (doubles game).
A teqball match consists of best-of-three sets.
Each set is played until a player/team reaches 12 points.
Every player/team has two attempts to complete a successful service.
The players/teams change service after each four points.
It is forbidden to touch the ball with the same body part twice consecutively
It is forbidden to return the ball with the same body part twice consecutively.
Every player/team is allowed to return the ball with a maximum of 3 touches by any body part, except for the hands and arms.
In doubles, a team has a maximum of 3 touches; however, the teammates must pass the ball at least once to each other.[needs update]
While playing, neither the table nor the opponent can be touched.
In case of an edgeball, the rally shall be repeated.” (ibid.)

The game can be played as singles or doubles, and doubles can be men, women, or mixed. The one match that was on ESPN featured a Hungarian man who was very tall, and it was a little funny watching him get his foot way up in the air drive the ball down at the table.

The sport was presented to the public in Hungary in 2016, and the proceedings featured famous Brazilian footballer Ronaldhino, a two-time FIFA player of the year who is now an ambassador for Teqball. “Teqball became the world’s fastest-recognised sport in August 2018, when its highest governing body, FITEQ, was officially recognised by the Olympic Committee of Asia (OCA). In June 2019, it was officially recognised by the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA). In November 2020, FITEQ was granted full membership of the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF)” (ibid.). That is a really fast path to recognition. Who knows but that we’ll see Teqball become an Olympic sport for 2032.

But it gets crazier. Since the invention of the curved table, four other sports have been added to the curved world of Teq: Teqvoly (volleyball and ping pong), Teqpong (actual ping pong but the table is curved), Teqis (beach tennis on a curved table with a sponge rubber ball), and Qatch (throwing a ball, kind of like team handball with a curved table). The thing is, I’ll be genuinely surprised if I see people thronging to all these teq sports.

The image today: “USA’s Carolyn Greco smashes the ball against Brazil’s Natalia Guitler and Rafaella Fontes during the Teqball World Championships, courtesy Teqball” (https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/10/football/teqball-world-championship-women-olympic-future-spt-intl-cmd/index.html).