Halloween is usually associated with bone-chilling events, rugby with bone-crunching tackles. But on the 31 October this year Shanghai Touch Football will be bucking the trend on both fronts as they host the sixth Shanghai International Touch Football Tournament.

 

Invented in Australia in the 1960s, touch rugby is a free-flowing, minimal contact sport similar to rugby but without the tackling, scrumming, rucking, mauling, line-outs or kicking. Fast, simple and very exciting, the game promotes the fundamental skills of running, handling, evasion and support play, while developing basic principles of attack and defense without the fear of getting seriously hurt. It’s also played throughout the world by men and women of all ages and skill levels, in men’s, women’s or mixed teams.

 

In China, touch rugby has spanned over a decade, and the Shanghai tournament has became one of the biggest international touch events in Asia, with local teams joined by sides from Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Beijing, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Ningbo and Taiwan. Taking place at the Shanghai Rugby Football Club’s new grounds, this event will be bigger than ever, with over 400 players in around 40 teams taking part in the five different divisions – Junior, Men, Women, Mixed and Masters (over 35s).

 

According to tradition, it’s a one-day tournament kicking off at 9am with an all-singing-all-dancing opening ceremony. After some serious action, and a little bit more entertainment from the cheerleaders (pom-pomtastic) the champions will be crowned at 5pm, at which point it will be time for a mix-and-mingle bbq and a (fair) few well-earned ales. With teams involved going by names like The Horny Wolves and The Sassy Shrimps, the athletes involved may not boast the sporting pedigree of those featured over these previous few pages – although last year’s event did attract the New Zealand World Cup-winning side – but we don’t think it would be controversial to suggest their charisma and banter off the field would blow Messrs Federer and Woods out of the water.

 

 

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