Strange Sports Played Across The World
Introduction
Sports have been the most integral part of our entertainment. We love to play different types of sports and also like watching them from time to time. We are aware of the conventional sports played in the major countries. There are a few unusual sports that drop our jaws and surprise us.
This list of sports is fascinating. The rules are creative and so are the sports. Let us find out more about these sports and ponder why they do not get much attention from the world.
List of Unusual Sports Around the World
1. Chess Boxing
These two words are poles apart. It seems they do not fit at all with each other. Surprisingly, the Germans and English have found a unique way to pair them. This is a game where one has to have brawn and a brain.
Every round has a 4-minute speed chess segment and a 2-minute boxing round. It means a player will have to knock out the opponent in the boxing ring or have to checkmate on the chessboard to win.
2. Zorbing
This sport sounds like an alien activity. No, it is not related to Zorgons, the voracious predators of Jumanji. It is a unique way of enjoying inside a plastic inflated orb. An orb has ample space where a human can fit. Imagine a hamster playing inside a plastic ball.
A player will enter an inflated ball and lock himself up. He will then roll down a hill and compete with other participants. The one who reaches the bottom of the hill first wins the round. This is no doubt one of the strange sports but quite hilarious and exciting to watch. Would you like to try it?
3. Buzkashi
This game might sound a little bizarre but is a favourite among the Afghans. In this game, a decapitated sheep or calf is used. Yes, it is not for the faint-hearted. A horse rider will win this game if he picks it up and puts it back in a circle.
Sounds easy right? Now add hundreds of horse riders snatching the carcass and trying to score. There is no way you can stop riding your horse. The only rule is that you cannot climb down your horse while picking the carcass and carrying it. This is one of the unusual sports played only in Afghanistan.
4. Wife Carrying
After reading about Buzkashi, this sport does not sound so bizarre, right? This is a very competitive sport where the husbands carry their wives on their backs and cross various hurdles. It is not a matter of joke when you have to carry a human on your back and overcome the hurdles.
Being one of the unusual sports from around the world, the wife straddles herself upside down on her husband’s back and the husband carries her throughout the event. Do you the winning prize? The winner gets beer that equals his wife’s weight. Surprising isn’t it?
5. Dhopkhel
The northeast states or the Seven Sisters are known for their contributions to football, hockey, and boxing. Do you know dhopkhel is a traditional game played in Assam? It is an 11-player game played in an open field of 125 m x 80 m dimensions. This sport is played in the springtime during the festival of Bihu.
The ball is called dhop. It is used to hit opponents to throw them out of the game. The last man standing wins the game for his team. It might sound easy but imagine running all the time dodging and making throws with a traditional ball!
6. Sepak Takraw
This is a famous Malaysian invention where volleyball is played but with feet. Now imagine the players smashing the balls on the opponent’s court by simply jumping over the net’s height and kicking the ball in the air and landing safely! This is the national game of Malaysia and is introduced in the Southeast Asian Games in 1965.
The court size is similar to that of badminton. A team has three players. One serves the ball with his foot and the rest defends. This sport can be played both indoors and outdoors.
7. Toe Wrestling
Toe wrestling beats almost all types of strange sports worldwide. In this sport, two players wrestle with their big toes. The players struggle with their toes on a small court made of wood or plastic called Toedium. The rules are simple. A player will win if he pins down the toe of an opponent on that court.
8. Curling
This is one of the strange Olympic sports played by many countries. In this sport, there are five well-polished stones. These stones are made of granite. The pitch is 45 m long and 4.4-5 m wide and is made of ice. There is a circle with coloured concentric circles at the end.
Curling, An Unusual Olympic Sport
A player tries to release a stone with calculated force to make it stop within the circle. The surface is extremely smooth and almost frictionless. There are four players and everyone gets a chance to throw. The rest of the players can scratch the ice pitch with their brooms to control the movement of stones. The position of the stones inside the circle offer points. The team with the higher score wins. It is the national sport of Scotland.
Beautiful Sports with Strange Concepts
These 8 sports are enough to baffle us. The concepts of these sports make us think out of the box. Imagine hitting a ball in the air with your foot with force or sliding a stone to make it stop within a circle which is at least 45 m away from you through a slippery pitch. Exciting isn’t it?
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