Gateball  is a mallet team sport similar to croquet. It is a fast-paced, non-contact, highly strategic

team game, which can be played by anyone regardless of age or gender.

Gateball is played on a rectangular court 20 meters long and 15 meters wide. Each court has three

gates and a goal pole. The game is played by two teams (red and white) of up to five players. Each

player has a numbered ball corresponding to their playing order. The odd-numbered balls are red

and the even-numbered balls are white. Teams score one point for each ball hit through a gate and

two points for hitting the goal pole, in accordance with the rules. A game of gateball lasts for thirty

minutes and the winner is the team with the most points at the end of the game.

History[edit]

Gateball was invented in Japan by Suzuki Kazunobu in 1947. At the time there was a severe

shortage of rubber needed to make the balls used in many sports. Suzuki, then working in the

lumber industry on the northern island of Hokkaido, realised there was a ready supply of the wood

used to make croquet balls and mallets. He revised the rules of croquet and created gateball as a

game for young people.[1]

Gateball first became popular in the late 1950s when a physical education instructor introduced

gateball to the women’s societies and senior citizens’ clubs of Kumamoto City. In 1962,

the Kumamoto Gateball Association was formed and established a local set of rules. This version of

the game became known nationally when it was demonstrated at a national fitness meet in

Kumamoto in 1976. Shortly afterwards the gateball’s popularity exploded as local government

officials and representatives of senior citizens’ organisations introduced the sport around the

country.[1]

In 1984, the Japanese Gateball Union (JGU) was founded. Under the leadership of its inaugural

chairman, Ryoichi Sasakawa, the JGU developed a unified set of rules and organised the first

national meet. The following year, the JGU joined with five countries and regions, China, Korea,

Brazil, United States of America and Chinese Taipei, to form the World Gateball Union (WGU). The

WGU has since been joined by Bolivia (1987), Paraguay (1987), Peru (1987), Argentina (1989),

Canada (1989), Singapore (1994), Hong Kong (1998), Australia (2003), Macao (2005), Philippines

(2012) and Indonesia (2013). [2]

Gameplay[edit]

Gateball is played between two teams of up to five people on a rectangular field 15-20 meters long

and 20-25 wide. The two teams use five balls each, either red or white depending on the team, and

play in an alternating fashion between red and white the balls numbered from 1 to 10. Each player

plays the same ball throughout the game. At the beginning of the game the players, in order, place

their ball in the designated “start area” and attempt to hit the ball through the first gate. If they

successfully pass through the gate they may play again. If the player misses the first gate, or their

ball passes through the first gate but ends up outside of the court, they pick up their ball and have to

try again in the second round.

When stroking, if the ball hits another ball, this is called a "touch". If both the stroker's ball and the

touched ball remain within the inside line, the stroker shall step on the stroker’s ball and place the

other touched ball so that it is touching the stroker's ball, and hit the strokers ball with the stick (this

play is called a “spark”), sending the other touched ball off as the result of the impact. By passing

through a gate or sparking the ball, a player receives another turn.

One point is given for every gate the ball passes in order and two points for hitting the goal-pole. The

winner is the team with the most points at the end of thirty minutes. As the red team always gets to

play first, the white team always has the final turn, even if time has elapsed before the final white ball

is called.

Competitions[edit]

World Games[edit]

In 2001, gateball was included as an exhibition event at the 6th World Games. The competition was

held in Akita Prefecture in Japan and was attended by teams from China, Japan, South Korea, the

USA and Chinese Taipei. The final was won by a team of mostly teenage players from Japan.

World Gateball Championship[edit]

The World Gateball Championships are held every four years. The inaugural championship in 1986

was played in Hokkaido with teams from Brazil, China, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Korea and the United

States of America. Subsequent championships were held in Hawaii (1998); Toyama, Japan (2002);

and Jeju, South Korea (2006).

The 10th World Championship was played on 17-19 September 2010 in Shanghai China. The

competition was contested by 96 teams from 14 countries/regions including Australia, Brazil, China,

Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Paraguay, the Philippines, South Korea, Russia and the

USA.[3]

The 11th World Championship will be held in Niigata city Japan on September 26-28.

Translate

Gateball adalah palu tim olahraga mirip dengan kroket. Ini adalah cepat, non-kontak, permainan tim yang sangat strategis, yang dapat dimainkan oleh siapa saja tanpa memandang usia atau jenis kelamin.

Gateball dimainkan di lapangan persegi panjang 20 meter dan lebar 15 meter. Setiap pengadilan memiliki tiga pintu gerbang dan tiang gawang. Permainan ini dimainkan oleh dua tim (merah dan putih) hingga lima pemain. Setiap pemain memiliki bola bernomor sesuai dengan pesanan mereka bermain. Bola bernomor ganjil berwarna merah dan bola genap berwarna putih. Tim mencetak satu poin untuk setiap bola membentur melalui gerbang dan dua poin untuk memukul tiang gawang, sesuai dengan aturan. Sebuah permainan gateball berlangsung selama tiga puluh menit dan pemenangnya adalah tim dengan poin terbanyak di akhir pertandingan.

GAMEPLAY

Gateball dimainkan antara dua tim hingga lima orang di lapangan persegi panjang 15-20 meter dan 20-25 lebar. Kedua tim menggunakan lima bola masing-masing, baik merah atau putih tergantung pada tim, dan bermain dengan cara bergantian antara merah dan putih bola berangka 1 hingga 10. Setiap pemain memainkan bola yang sama sepanjang pertandingan. Pada awal permainan para pemain, agar, menempatkan bola mereka di ditunjuk "mulai daerah" dan berusaha untuk memukul bola melalui gerbang pertama. Jika mereka berhasil melewati gerbang mereka dapat bermain lagi. Jika pemain merindukan gerbang pertama, atau bola mereka melewati gerbang pertama tetapi akhirnya di luar pengadilan, mereka menjemput bola mereka dan harus mencoba lagi di babak kedua.

Ketika membelai, jika bola menyentuh bola lain, ini disebut "sentuhan". Jika kedua bola stoker dan bola menyentuh tetap dalam garis dalam, stroker harus menginjak bola stoker dan menempatkan bola menyentuh lainnya sehingga menyentuh strokers bola, dan memukul strokers bola dengan tongkat (bermain ini disebut "spark"), mengirimkan bola menyentuh lainnya dari sebagai hasil dari dampak. Dengan melewati gerbang atau memicu bola, pemain menerima giliran lain.

Satu titik diberikan untuk setiap gerbang bola melewati dalam rangka dan dua poin untuk memukul tujuan-tiang. Pemenangnya adalah tim dengan poin terbanyak di akhir tiga puluh menit. Sebagai tim merah selalu mendapat untuk bermain pertama, tim putih

selalu memiliki belokan terakhir, bahkan jika waktu telah berlalu sebelum bola putih akhir disebut.