Pune invented game, Roll Ball bags place in Guinness World Records

Pune, June 6, 2018: A Pune born unique game, Roll Ball has once again gained international recognition. The Roll Ball Federation of India (RBFI) and the International Roll Ball Federation (IRBF) have been ranked in the Guinness Book of World Records and Asia Book of Records by playing the game continuously for 24-hours straight.

The players, who played the Roll Ball for 24 hours in a row, remained unbeaten by three hours of rains and also sustained the strong afternoon sun. A total of 309 Roll Ball players belonged to various other states including Pune and Maharashtra which resulted in creating two World Records.

This information was given by Vineet Kuber, President, Roll Ball Federation of India (RBFI). Raju Dabhade, Inventor of Roll Ball and Chetan Bhandwalkar, sports coach were present on the occasion. At this time, Bhandwalkar handed over the certificate from Guinness Book of World Records to Vineet Kuber and Raju Dabhade.

Roll Ball is a sport that is like basketball or handball but with a skate in the foot. This game is played in two teams of 6 players each. In this, 5 players of each team play in real terms, whereas one player from each team takes responsibility as a ‘Goal Tender’.

In this record match, two teams one from the ‘International Roll Ball Federation’ and the other from the ‘Roll Ball Federation of India’, who played consistently for 24 hours at Belgaum. The match started at 5pm on the May 18 and ended at 5pm on the May 19, 2018. Both boys and girls were involved in the game. In this match, the International Roll Ball Federation defeated the Roll Ball Federation of India by 336-328 points.

The suspicions arose whether the game will be continuously played when 3-hour long rains interrupted the game. But the players continued to play even in the rain, as according to the Guinness Book of World Records rules, the match could not be stopped. The scorching sun was another challenge on the second day of the game, but players still managed to keep up the game. During the hot afternoons and night, the senior players substituted while the junior players rested making an effort to not stopping the game under any circumstances and playing against to make the world record.

A hopeful Mr. Vineet Kuber, President of the Roll Ball Federation of India (RBFI) said, “The idea of registering Roll Ball matches in the Guinness Book of World Record was an effort to increase the visibility of this game and we hope to see this game as a part of the Olympics, one day. The efforts made by the players and their coaches for this world record are beyond description. We hope to see more players take up this sport which will also help increase the popularity of Roll Ball and bring it on International map.”

This sport gained recognition at the University level last year. This year it is expected that Roll Ball becomes a part of the priority sector which will further be a motivation for the players and encourage them take up the sport, added Kuber.

Roll ball was invented by the Pune based Raju Dabhade in 2003 in Pune. This sport is now played in more than 50 different nations. Dabhade proudly said, “With the skills of players in the sport of Roll Ball, the strength, speed and body’s ability to maintain balance are important. In addition to this, Teamwork is very important for winning this game.”

This challenge was taken up by 309 players which was lasted for 24 hours. The age category of players ranged from Under 11, 14, 17 as well as the senior category, played by both girls and boys. The team consisted of players from all over the country; from states like Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala. Of the total 309 players, there were 42 boys and 16 girls from Maharashtra.