Japanese Gateball Grandmothers: Cheerful (but Relentless) Champions

Описание: They look like kind and loving grandmothers - until they get a mallet in their hands....

Gateball - Westerners know it as lawn croquet - is a serious sport in Japan.

One day in Japan I stumbled upon an odd activity. It looks like lawn croquet played upon a hard-packed surface, but there the resemblance ends. This is serious business - each game lasts twelve minutes and players run from shot to shot. Woe betide anyone who gets tapped by an enemy ball. Croquet mallets turn into golf clubs and ball is quickly sent into the next county. After being soundly thrashed, I discovered that the average age of my opponents was 78 years old.

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Category: Travel