Racketlon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Racketlon is a racquet-sport cousin of the triathlon and decathlon. It combines the four most popular racquetsports in a single match (Ping Pong, Badminton, Squash and Tennis).
By definition, the game must be built on the concept of a match involving the same two individuals (or pairs in doubles) playing each other in all four sports - with identically formatted sets being played in each sport. The player (or pair) who wins most rallies in total is the winner of the racketlon match. The sets are played in the following order (from smaller to larger rackets): table tennis, badminton, squash, tennis. Other than short official rules, each of the four sports' matches are governed by their respective international rules.
The sport originated in Finland and Sweden, where--apparently--there isn't much else to do for entertainment. Billed as the world's fastest growing sport, in terms of numbers of official players, it has grown by 300% in the last three years, with almost 2000 ranked players from 48 countries.
The first official world championship took place in November 2001, and the World Tour, which takes place in 11 countries, is now in its fifth year (2007). 2007's finals will be in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
