A childhood pastime of tossing mangoes to one another in the Amazon has transformed into a proper sport in Brazil, even finding a place among the vaunted beach games played in Rio de Janeiro.
On the hot, golden sands of Copacabana, players simultaneously toss two mango-shaped balls across a net in a fast, fun and tiring test of their reflexes.
Dubbed “manbol” — a mash-up of the words for mango and ball — the new game is slowly spreading across Rio’s beaches, where sports-loving Brazilians indulge in activities like footvolley, beach tennis and volleyball.
Photo: AFP
It is the brainchild of Rui Hildebrando, based on a game he and his younger brother used to play as children in the Amazonian city Belem do Para.
“At first, it was a simple game between us: My brother Rogerio would throw a mango at me and I would throw it back, but after a while, I thought it would be more fun to each throw a mango at the same time,” 44-year-old Rui Hildebrando said.
After it caught on among youngsters in town, Hildebrando came up with official rules for the game and in 2004 formed the Brazilian Manbol Confederation.
The game is played with mango-shaped polyurethane balls, about three times smaller than a rugby ball, on a rectangular court on any surface.
The rules are simple: You win a point if the ball passes over the net and lands on the ground on your rival’s side — as long as you also catch the other ball thrown to your side. If both balls fall, the point is replayed.
To win, a team must win two sets of 12 points. Each game can be played with up to three players, with a match lasting 15 to 25 minutes.
“It’s a very dynamic sport, and the fact that there are two balls makes it very fun. It’s tiring but it’s a matter of practice,” said Adriana Mathias, 46, a physical education teacher who has been playing since 2007.
After two decades, manbol is making inroads in Brazil, with about 2,000 players in a nation of more than 200 million people. There are regional federations in Rio de Janeiro, the capital, Brasilia, northeastern Ceara and northern Para.
The city of Belem even declared manbol an official “sporting discipline” in 2016.
Hildebrando said that there have been demonstrations of the game in 11 other countries in South America, Europe and Asia.
In June last year, a game was played for Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
“It is an inclusive sport, which can be played by people of any age or social class. Manbol has everything it takes to grow,” said Katia Lessa, president of the Rio Manbol federation.
‘SOURCE OF PRIDE’: Newspapers rushed out special editions and the government sent their congratulations as Shohei Ohtani became the first player to enter the 50-50 club Japan reacted with incredulity and pride yesterday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami. “We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further,” he added. The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news
When Wang Tao ran away from home aged 17 to become a professional wrestler, he knew it would be a hard slog to succeed in China’s passionate but underdeveloped scene. Years later, he has endured family disapproval, countless side gigs and thousands of hours of brutal training to become China’s “Belt and Road Champion” — but the struggle is far from over. Despite a promising potential domestic market, the Chinese pro wrestling community has been battling for recognition and financial stability for decades. “I have done all kinds of jobs [on the side]... Because in the end, it is very
No team in the CPBL can surpass the Taipei Dome attendance record set by the CTBC Brothers, except when the Brothers team up with Taiwanese rock band Mayday. A record-high 40,000 fans turned out at the indoor baseball venue on Saturday for Brothers veteran Chou Szu-chi’s first farewell game, which was followed by a mini post-game concert featuring Mayday. This broke the previous CPBL record of 34,506 set by the Brothers in early last month, when K-pop singer Hyuna performed after the game, and the dome’s overall record of 37,890 set in early March, which featured the Brothers and the
With a quivering finger, England Subbuteo veteran Rudi Peterschinigg conceded the free-kick that sent his country’s World Cup quarter-final into extra-time before smashing his plastic goalkeeper on the floor in frustration. In the genteel southern English town of Tunbridge Wells, 300 elite players have gathered to play the game they love. “I won’t say this is the best weekend I’ve ever had in my life, but it’s certainly in the top two,” said Hughie Best, 58, who flew in from Perth, Australia, to compete and commentate at the event. Tunbridge Wells is the “spiritual home” of Subbuteo, which was invented there in 1946