World Games 2009 Kaohsiung Pre-Event Series ─ Tchoukball & Women's Beach Handball

◎Text by Yi-Chun Lin

   The highly anticipated World Games 2009 Kaohsiung Pre-Event Series - FITB 2007 International Tchoukball Championship and 2007 Women's Beach Handball Demonstration Event will kick off on November 11th at the Kaohsiung Fongshan City Sin Ciang Sports Park and the National Sun Yat-sen University Gymnasium.

 　Last year, the World Games 2009 Kaohsiung Organising Committee (KOC) organised 3 pre-event tournaments, including dragon boat racing, roller-skating, and rock climbing. This year, KOC has continued with organising FITB 2007 International Tchoukball Championship and 2007 Women's Beach Handball Demonstration Event. Through hosting these past events, KOC has gained practical skills and experience in organising international games, in aspects such as setting up venues, drug testing, athlete identification, transportation, accommodation and food arranging, anti-terrorism measures, security, environmental cleanliness, broadcasting and media. At the same time, it is also a good opportunity for Kaohsiung City to promote Taiwan and host these events in order to encourage friends from all over the world to develop a more in-depth knowledge of Kaohsiung City and Taiwan as a whole.

Women's Beach Handball

　The 2007 Women's Beach Handball Demonstration Event is part of the World Games 2009 Pre-Event series. This sport is derived from traditional handball. The pace of the game is more intense than the traditional one because the court is set at a beach, and in addition, there are more restrictions on physical contact to protect the players, allowing them to use their special techniques more freely to score. Each team's theme music will be played at the court to encourage lively interaction with their supporting fans. It will be a very exciting sport to watch.

Tchoukball

　Another competing sprtrs tchoukball, which was created 36 years ago. This sport gets its name from the sound made when the ball hits then bounces from a framed net. In many types of ball games violent physical contact between players is inevitable; however tchoukball is very different in this aspect.Tchoukball combines different features from basketball, volleyball, squash, and handball. Its unique rules allow no interceptions, physical contact or dishonourable behaviour. This sport is all about fair play, fellowship, good sportsmanship and cooperation. Therefore, it has a good reputation of being a gentleman's ball game.

　The Tchoukball tournament in the World Games 2009 Kaohsiung will be twin-framed. During a tchoukball match, the attacking team throws the ball at the frame at a 55 degree angle and can score 1 point if the defending team fails to catch the bouncing ball before it touches the floor.

　There are two systems used in international tchoukball sport events for scoring. The first one is to divide a match into 3 periods. The team that has the highest score at the end of the conventional time is the winner. The other is a best-of-five set, the same as a volleyball match. The best-of-five rule is commonly adopted by beach tchoukball events. The tchoukball matches in World Games 2009 Kaohsiung will be held indoor and will be using the first scoring system.

　The contestant teams for Tchoukball and Women's Beach Handball this year are from 9 different countries: Austria, Italy, Taiwan(Chinese Taipei), Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Switzerland and more. Everyone is invited to come and watch these 2 different yet exciting sports.

2009高雄世運暖身賽系列── FITB 2007巧固球國際錦標賽2007女子沙灘手球表演賽

◎文／無明

　　令高雄市民引頸期盼的「2009高雄世運暖身賽系列」─FITB 2007巧固球國際錦標賽以及2007女子沙灘手球表演賽，11月9日即將於國立中山大學體育館及高雄縣鳳山市新強運動公園盛大登場。

　　2009世界運動會組織委員會基金會(KOC)繼去年舉辦龍舟、滑輪溜冰及攀岩等三項暖身賽後，今年11月9日至15日陸續再辦理女子沙灘手球及巧固球二場暖身賽，KOC透過賽事舉辦累積籌辦國際賽事實力和經驗，包括場地、藥檢、選手認證、交通規劃、食宿需求、反恐機制、治安維護、市容整潔、後勤、轉播等事宜，在舉辦活動過程中，也讓國際友人更加了解高雄、台灣，成功地進行城市外交。

　　此次暖身賽的競賽項目之一，沙灘手球是由傳統手球演變而來，比賽的節奏較傳統手球更為緊湊；因為比賽的場地在沙灘上，增加對球員身體的保護，讓球員得已使出看家本領射門。會場伴隨著球隊主題音樂，與場邊觀眾產生熱絡的互動，成為頗具觀賞價值的一項球類競技。

　　另一項暖身賽的競賽項目－巧固球因球擲在網子上時，會發出「巧固」的反彈聲，因此而得其名。一般球類運動不免發生運動員激烈身體碰撞動作，但是結合籃球、排球、壁網球與手球特色的巧固球，發展迄今歷36年不衰，其獨特的玩法講求不侵犯、不取巧、重禮讓、友愛、競爭及合作的精神，所以有「君子球」的美譽。

　　巧固球比賽場地不限，室內、戶外、草地、沙灘，甚至水中皆可。依照場地大小及人數可以分為單網賽及雙網賽，2009高雄世運將採行室內雙網賽。巧固球的玩法是將球擲向55度角1公尺正方的網子，若沒接到對方射網反彈回來的球，擲球的一方便可得到一分。

　　目前國際有2種比賽制度，一是比賽三節，取各隊總分，得分高者優勝，二是如同排球，採五戰三勝。五戰三勝的比賽方式多為沙灘巧固球使用，2009高雄世運舉行的是室內巧固球，所以採比三節加總分的方式。

　　今年的二場暖身賽將有來自奧地利、義大利、台灣、香港、澳門、新加坡、馬來西亞、韓國、瑞士等多達9個國家的球員及各國貴賓與民眾共同參與此一體育盛事，歡迎民眾一起來欣賞這兩種截然不同的球類運動。