Pakistan Woodball squad to be part of 18th Asian Games

F.P. Report

PESHAWAR: President Pakistan Woodball Federation Shahid Khan Saturday said that Pakistan squad will be part of the 18th Asian Games to be held in Jakarta Palembang, the capital of Indonesia.

This he said while talking to APP soon after returning from Taipei, Taiwan, from where in the Games originated, after attending the Asian Woodball General Council Meeting. He said a request in this connection by the governed body of World Woodball has also sent a written request to the President of Pakistan Olympic Association Lt. Gen. (Retd) Syed Arif Hassan.

He also lauded the efforts of President International Woodball Federation (IWbF) Mr. Ming Hui Weng and Secretary General Emily Huang and President Asian Woodball Federation (AWbF) Mr. Thomas Kok for including Pakistan in the Games. He said certainly the participation in the Asian Games is conditioned with the approval of the POA and PSB.

He said, the 18th Asian Games-2018 commonly known as Jakarta Palembang 2018, is a pan-Asian multi-sport event scheduled to be held from August 18 to September 2, 2018 with Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta will host the opening ceremony.

He said, it is for the first time, the Asian Games are being co-hosted in two cities; the Indonesian capital of Jakarta (which is hosting the Games for the first time since 1962), and Palembang, the capital of South Sumatra province. Events will be held in and around the two cities, including sites in Jakarta’s neighboring provinces of Banten and West Java.

Shahid Khan said that they have discussed in detail about the Pakistan’s Woodball team. He said Woodball is a sport where a mallet is used to pass a ball through gates.

This game can be played in grass, sand or indoor. The sport is in the program of Asian Beach Games. The International Woodball Federation is based in Taipei, Taiwan.

The sport was invented in Taiwan by Weng Ming-hui and Kuang-chu Young in 1990. The OCA made the sport a program of the Asian Beach Games in 2008, he said, adding “the Game of Woodball consists in playing a ball from the starting area through the gate by a stroke or successive strokes in accordance with the Woodball Rules.”

He disclosed that the competitor who plays the stipulated round or rounds in the fewest strokes is the winner. Woodball is a portable lawn game. A player uses one mallet for teeing off, fairway playing and putting. Unlike Golf, a Woodball is larger (3 3/4 inch in diameter) and heavier than a golf ball, he said, assding,  “woodball only rolls on the grass and is suitable to play in the yard or a small area.” It is a good lawn game for all ages with an an indoor gate, woodball can be played indoor as well, Shahid said.  The fun of playing woodball contains parent-child bonding, relaxation, competition, exercising and coaching as ideal places for woodball are backyards, parks, beaches, woodball courses and even in the house (putting only).

Enjoy sunshine and great scene while you play woodball, he said, adding the swinging method of woodball is the same as golf, therefore, swinging with a woodball mallet, which is heavier than a golf club, will train the golf muscles very well.

He said each team consists 2 to 4 players. He said, on a woodball course, the goal is to complete 12 gates, or a designated number of gates. Similar to golf, the player who completes these gates with fewest strokes wins the game.

It takes approximately 90 minutes to complete 12 gates, he disclosed. The length of a gate, from the starting area to the gate, ranges from 30 yards (par 3) to over 100 yards (par 5).