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1. Gateball Today
The growing popularity of gateball
Gateball is a sport that was developed by Eiji Suzuki in Japan 1947, based on the sport "Croquet", a game that has a long, history in Europe.
The Japan Gateball Union was established in 1984 (founding Chairman, Ryoichi Sasakawa). In the following year, in response to a call from Japan, 5 countries and 1 region - China, Korea. Brazil, the United States of America and Chinese Taipei - joined Japan to form the World Gateball Union (hereinafter "WGU"). Thus, gateball which, in the words of the founding chairman, "is a sport that can be enjoyed by children through to the elderly, maintains health, contributes to a fulfilling lifestyle and at the same time, promotes communication amongst many people" was introduced to the world.
Today (2004), there are 12 member nations and 2 member regions and many different international friendly championships, including the 4-yearly World Gateball Championship, the Asian Gateball Championship and the South American Gateball Championship. In addition, in order to achieve a definite position in world sports, the WGU intends to become a signatory to the GAISF (General Association of International Sports Federation).
In recent years, gateball has spread to Australia and New Zealand where croquet is popular. We believe that, by increasing exchanges with croquet teams while understanding the different features of the two games, the game of gateball has the potential to grow to include not only the European nations but the whole world.
Countries or regions where gateball is played (27 countries, 3 regions)
[1] The Game and the Court
Although gateball is a game played between two teams, according to the rules, only one player ever plays at any time on the court during the game.
●It is a game played between two teams, each with 5 players.
●The winner is decided by the total number of points achieved during the 30-minute game.
●The leading team uses red balls (odd numbers) and the following team uses white balls (even numbers).
●The members of the leading team and the following team take turns to stroke the ball in the right order, passing the ball through the three gates (Gate 1 to Gate 3) on the court, with the game finishing, that is "Finish" or "Agari" when the ball strokes the goal-pole.
●Sticks, balls, gates and the goal-pole are used in gateball.
Stick
Ball
Gate
Goal-pole
●A team consists of 5 players and up to 3 substitutes, among whom one shall be designated the captain.
●Each team may have one manager specific to the team.
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