In the autumn of 2016, hundreds of fans gathered outside Docler Holding’s headquarters at Expo Square in Budapest as Ronaldinho stepped up to a curious-looking curved table and introduced teqball to the world.
The football great, who was brought on as its global ambassador, spoke about wanting to play the game with his former Barcelona teammate and fellow Brazilian Neymar, and of sending them both teqball tables so they could practice. In India, Quimcy DSouza stumbled upon teqball through Ronaldinho reels on Instagram. The Mumbai-born started out as a middle-distance runner and later played football (U19 level) for Maharashtra before a ligament injury snuffed out her dreams in the game. It had been my dream to play for India since I was a kid. It could be any sport. Her road to the medal has been impressive. She defeated top seed Japan’s Yuina Sakamoto, followed by Cambodia’s Koemyean Dy in straight sets, to top her group and earn a direct passage to the semi-finals. In the mixed doubles match, where she was partnering Mohamed Anas Imran Beg, that followed soon after, she picked up an injury and ended up on the losing side once more.
“In 2022, when I was injured, I wanted to play professional football.
I watched Ronaldinho on Instagram reels…and when I saw him play (teqball), I loved it,” she told the Olympic Council of Asia. She lost to Sumaya of Indonesia on Saturday, and went into a bronze medal playoff, again facing Sakamoto.
“We measured the curve for three years with empirical tests to achieve that, the ball bounces in a way that it has an acceleration and that the tool is operable,” Huszar said in an earlier interview. “If you play teqball, you become a better football player.”
A seven-time national champion, Quimcy founded the Teqball Club of Bangalore, and her football background has helped with the ball control and speed a game that melds football and table tennis demands.
