The roll ball kaleidoscope
The 4th Roll Ball World Cup, which is currently taking place in Dhaka, has had a lot of drawbacks, ranging from the relaxed rules and teams' lack of preparation to the mismanagement by the organisers, but one thing is for sure: this game has landed a diverse range of people from all over the world in the Bangladesh capital. There are 65 teams -- men's and women's -- from 38 countries of five continents, and the players have brought with them varied perspectives and stories.
FROM PEANUT SELLER TO PROLIFIC SCORER
16-year-old Deen Islam Hridoy could hardly have dreamt that he would be playing in a world cup six years ago, when he used to earn a living for his family by selling peanuts next to the Abahani ground. But as luck would have it, he fell in love with skating, watching kids skate inside the complex and on the street outside. He showed some promise in what he loved, and caught the Bangladesh team captain Nowsif Hossain Dipro's attention, who took him to the Bangladesh Roller Skating Federation officials.
He got a job at the federation as a skating instructor before being drafted into the roll ball team two years ago. While he still instructs young kids how to roller skate, he has become the mainstay in the Bangladesh team, scoring 15 goals in the first two matches as Bangladesh cruised to the knock-out stages. The young boy, who lost his father at a very tender age, is happy to play his part in this congregation.
“I now earn somewhat of a living from skating and I thank the federation officials and the team captain for that,” Hridoy said ahead of yesterday's match against Fiji. “I had loved skating instantly when I saw kids doing it, and probably that's why I don't have to go about selling peanuts now. Instead, I'm here playing at a world cup.”
VESNA HAPPY DESPITE BEING ONE PLAYER SHORT
Many of the European and South American teams that have come here have basically taken to roll ball through word of mouth, with their original choice of sport being ice hockey, roller in-line hockey or basketball. The Slovenia team is no exception. Having found a few to switch to this sport from in-line hockey and basketball, the Slovenian women's team could still manage only five players to bring to Bangladesh, while the official number of players should be six at least. But they do not seem bothered about being a player short. Team member Vesna Gabor says they are trying to put up a fight with whatever they have while the main objective is to gain experience and enjoy being in a new country.
“We have to make do with what we have, and even though we lost to India today [Sunday], we won against Fiji yesterday. So it's not all that bad. Plus we are getting to mix with a lot of new people in this new place, which is nice. I'm actually happy to be away from the cold in Ljubljana,” the pink-haired player said.
13 GOING ON 30?
Roll ball skating can be a dangerous game as it is usually played on a hard surface and involves physical contact. So you would not expect to see kids rubbing shoulders with grown men on roller skates. But that seems to be the case, at least with the Nepal team. The South Asian nation has come here with a large contingent, so much so that their team includes quite a few 13-year-olds. Two of them were on the subs bench during yesterday's match against France, after having played on the previous day. Interestingly, rather than concentrating on what their teammates were doing, they seemed more keen on playing candy crush on their android smart phones. Can't really blame the kids for that little distraction, can we?
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