- Title: New freestyle football champions crowned in Nairobi
- Date: 25th November 2023
- Summary: NAIROBI, KENYA (NOVEMBER 25, 2023) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FREESTYLE FOOTBALL ATHLETES PERFORMING ON STAGE BRAZILIAN FREESTYLE FOOTBALL ATHLETE, MARISA CINTRA, PERFORMING (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) BRAZILIAN FREESTYLE FOOTBALL ATHLETE, MARISA CINTRA, SAYING: “Yes, there are a lot of women in Brazil these days, especially where I live, in Sao Paulo. And there's been a big improv
- Embargoed: 9th December 2023 20:58
- Keywords: Freestyle Football Freestyle Football Championship World Freestyle Football Association
- Location: NAIROBI, KENYA
- City: NAIROBI, KENYA
- Country: Kenya
- Topics: Africa,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA001101925112023RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Fans cheered the world's top 32 freestyle football athletes on as they took turns 'battling' each other for the world champion title in Kenya's capital city, Nairobi, on Saturday (November 25) in an event organised by the World Freestyle Football Association.
Sixteen male and sixteen female competitors who mostly hailed from Europe and the United States, had already come through several qualifying rounds to reach the finals in Kenya.
The relatively new sport combines juggling a football and performing tricks infused with elements of dance and acrobatics played out to music.
A panel of five judges evaluated two performers at a time as the competitors 'battled' each other for the chance to continue on in chase of the crown.
After hours of gruelling head-to-head matches, Aguska Mnich from Poland shed tears as she was crowned the female champion of 2023.
Norway's Erlend Fagerli, was crowned this year's male champion. Fagerli had earlier announced that he was retiring from the sport at just 26-years-old.
He started freestyling more than ten years ago after watching videos of people performing ball tricks online. Erlend said the win on Saturday was extra special because it was his last event as a professional freestyler.
The founder of the World Freestyle Football Association, Daniel Wood, said he would like to see freestyle in the Olympics someday, adding that it is a crowd-pleaser with it's combination of sport, dance and acrobatics.
(Production: Edwin Waita, Mukelwa Hlatshwayo) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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