To purists, it is a non-competitive pastime in which beauty outweighs victory, but to others, Myanmar’s enigmatic ball game chinlone is a source of pride that has already brought the host nation a clutch of gold medals at the Southeast Asian Games.
A mesmerizing form of keepy-uppy with a cane ball among six players, the sport is one of a welter of disciplines unknown to the wider world, but popular within the region.
The roster at this year’s Southeast Asian Games in Myanmar is peppered with obscure non-Olympic sports, such as martial arts vovinam, wushu and pencak silat — an Indonesian fighting skill — as well as another more widely played cane ball game, sepak takraw.
Photo: AFP
The regional sporting extravaganza has returned to the country after a 44-year absence, marking another landmark in Myanmar’s opening up after decades cloistered by paranoid generals.
Desperate to showcase chinlone, Myanmar lobbied hard for its inclusion in the Games as a “culturally specific” sport, sparking allegations from outraged rivals that the hosts were cherry-picking events for its athletes.
While it is not alone in its use of feet to juggle a ball, chinlone’s uniqueness is revealed in its high kicks, balletic overhead touches and precise exchanges between players, who gracefully swap positions or rotate around a circle. It holds a hallowed place in Myanmar as a recreation casually played on roadsides everywhere, but also for its almost meditational quality, which is revealed through the concentration required to repeat the moves over long periods.
The game is so idiosyncratic that formal rules had to be crafted for the games in Naypyidaw, such as the introduction of an opposition, scoring system and defined playing area.
However, its inclusion posed a sizeable challenge to the other six nations who signed up for the discipline.
“They had to learn it from scratch,” said Boonchai Lorhpipat, deputy president of the international sepak takraw federation — under whose banner the sport has fallen, as it also uses a cane ball.
“Some of the basic skills are the same as sepak takraw, but the game is very different,” he said. Officials had to make the game “umpire-able,” he added, with rules including restricting the game inside two concentric circles, introducing scores across three sets and holding a parallel game to act as the opposition.
Fans have gloried in the staging of the game, filling a purpose-built indoor arena to cheer Myanmar’s men’s and women’s chinlone teams.
There are now calls for it to be included on a more regular basis in the Southeast Asian Games, which are held every two years.
Somewhat predictably, Myanmar hoovered up six golds, helping fire the country to an early lead in the medals table in a competition that inspires fierce regional rivalry, but goes all but undetected in the wider sporting world.
“As a Myanmar woman, I’m delighted to win this medal... I don’t have words to describe my happiness,” a jubilant Khine Win Thu said after claiming gold in a women’s event on Monday.
The team cruised past Thailand, with the ball hitting the floor only a handful times in the 30 minutes of play.
To chinlone masters, the sport is a metaphor of sorts for their country, which has undergone sweeping political and economic reforms since 2011.
“It’s a complex, delicate and difficult game,” Myanmar head chinlone coach Khin Muang Win said.
“People do not know about this tradition... [but] I believe the world will get to know Myanmar better through chinlone,” he added.
FRUSTRATION: Alcaraz made several unforced errors over four sets against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, who had never made it past the third round in a major competition Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round of the French Open after laboring past Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the Friday night session. The second-seeded Spaniard had never before played Dzumhur, a 33-year-old Bosnian who had never been past the third round at any major tournament. “I suffered quite a lot today,” Alcaraz said. “The first two sets was under control, then he started to play more deeply and more aggressively. It was really difficult for me.” Dzumhur hurt his left knee in a fall in the second round, and had treatment on Friday on his right leg during the
‘DREAM’: The 5-0 victory was PSG’s first Champions League title, and the biggest final win by any team in the 70-year history of the top-flight European competition Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time as Luis Enrique’s brilliant young side outclassed Inter on Saturday in the most one-sided final ever with teenager Desire Doue scoring twice in an astonishing 5-0 victory. Doue supplied the pass for Achraf Hakimi to give PSG an early lead and the 19-year-old went from provider to finisher as his deflected shot doubled the advantage in the 20th minute. Doue scored again just after the hour mark, ending any doubt about the outcome before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ran away to get the fourth and substitute Senny Mayulu, another teenager, made it five. Inter were
The horn sounded on Wednesday night to signal a third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final, as the Florida Panthers celebrated merely by hopping over the boards and several heading over to congratulate goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. It was a subdued celebration seemingly more befitting a regular-season win for the reigning Cup champs. “I remember a few years ago, it felt like such an accomplishment from where we were at one point,” forward Matthew Tkachuk said, adding: “It’s all business and we’ve got a bigger goal in mind.” The Panthers closed out the Carolina Hurricanes in five games, with a 5-3 victory in
The Edmonton Oilers on Thursday defeated the Dallas Stars 6-3 to book their place in the Stanley Cup Finals, setting up a repeat of last year’s NHL showpiece against reigning champions the Florida Panthers. The Oilers, bidding to become the first Canadian team to win the NHL’s championship series since the 1993 Montreal Canadiens, head to Florida for Game 1 of the best-of-seven series set for Wednesday. Florida, who are to play in the NHL showpiece for the third straight season, won last year’s title 4-3 to extend Canada’s decades-long Stanley Cup drought. Connor McDavid led Edmonton back to the championship series on
RSS