Peru wins first ever Balloon World Cup

Peru wins first ever Balloon World Cup  

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iiigz06_lvM

A new sporting fixture was added to the calendar of world sports events this week - the Balloon World Cup. The "sport" of keepy-uppy ballooning is probably a familiar one. We have all, at one time or another, partaken in the decades-old pastime of keeping a balloon up in the air without letting it touch the floor. Spanish soccer legend and Barcelona star Gerard Pique loved this sport so much he decided to develop it into an international event. The inaugural Balloon World Cup was held in Tarragona, Spain, on Thursday. Peru's Francesco de la Cruz was crowned as the very first world champion. His athleticism and deftness saw him fend off a challenge from Germany's Jan Spiess in the final with a 6-2 victory.

Gerard Pique got his inspiration for establishing the annual tournament from videos that went viral on the social media site TikTok. He loved watching clips of the Arrendondo family from the USA playing the game during the COVID-19 lockdown. It developed from the family's living room into a "Keep-Up Balloon League". Pique then intervened and made the game global. The World Cup contests took place on an 8m x 8m court, which contained living room furniture as obstacles. Teams from 32 countries participated. Pique said: "It's been amazing. It's something totally different. Sometimes you have to get out of your comfort zone and try new things." There are hopes it could become an Olympics event.

Warm-ups


3. OLYMPICS: Students A strongly believe keepy-uppy ballooning should be an Olympics event; Students B strongly believe otherwise. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
5. LEGEND: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "legend".  

6. SPORTS EVENTS: Rank these with your partner. Put the best at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

  • Balloon World Cup
  • FIFA World Cup
  • Tour de France
  • Formula One
  • Horse racing
  • Winter Olympics
  • Heavyweight boxing
  • Ski jumping

Vocabulary

    Paragraph 1

      1.

fixture

a.

Marking the beginning of an institution, activity, or period of office.

      2.

calendar

b.

Defend oneself from a challenger.

      3.

partaken

c.

A sporting event arranged to take place on a particular date.

      4.

pastime

d.

A list of days or events of a specified kind.

      5.

inaugural

e.

An activity that someone does regularly for enjoyment rather than work; a hobby.

      6.

deftness

f.

Neatly skillful and quick in one's movements.

      7.

fend off

g.

Joined in an activity.

    Paragraph 2

      8.

inspiration

h.

A thing that blocks one's way or prevents or hinders progress.

      9.

annual

i.

Took part in something so as to prevent or alter a result or course of events.

      10.

viral

j.

A short sequence taken from a video, film or broadcast.

      11.

clip

k.

The process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.

      12.

intervened

l.

A situation where one feels safe or at ease.

      13.

obstacle

m.

Occurring once every year.

      14.

comfort zone

n.

Of an image, video, piece of information, etc. circulated rapidly and widely from one Internet user to another.

 

Before reading / listening

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if 1-8 below are true (T) or false (F).

  1. A new sporting calendar has been made with balloons on it.     T / F
  2. The article says everyone has played keepy-uppy ballooning.     T / F
  3. The first Balloon World Cup was held in Peru.     T / F
  4. The final of the Balloon World Cup was between Peru and Germany.     T / F
  5. The idea for the Balloon World Cup came from TikTok.     T / F
  6. Before the Balloon World Cup, there was a Keep-Up Balloon League.     T / F
  7. The Balloon World Cup games took part in a 8m x 8m court.     T / F
  8. Keepy-uppy ballooning will become an Olympics event.     T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

  1. fixture
  2. familiar
  3. pastime
  4. inaugural
  5. deftness
  6. inspiration
  7. clips
  8. intervened
  9. obstacles
  10. zone
  1. nimbleness
  2. first
  3. stepped in
  4. well-known
  5. area
  6. stumbling blocks
  7. motivation
  8. contest
  9. excerpts
  10. hobby


Role play : What do you know about this league and why is it the best ? Compare it to the other leagues

Role  A – Premier League 
What do you know about this league and why is it the best ? Compare it to the other leagues

Role  B – La Liga

Role  C – Calcio 
 

Role  D – German League

RoleE - French League 

Role F - MLS 

Role G - Champions League 

Role H- Copa Libertadores

Discussion - Balloon World Cup

  1. What images are in your mind when you hear the word 'Peru'?
  2. What do you know about Peru?
  3. What do you know about balloons?
  4. What do you think of the Balloon World Cup?
  5. Have you played balloon keepy-uppy?
  6. Is balloon keepy-uppy a real sport?
  7. How exciting do you think the Balloon World Cup is?
  8. How athletic and deft must you be for keepy-uppy ballooning?
  9. Would you be good at keepy-uppy ballooning?
  1. What do you think of when you hear the word 'balloon'?
  2. What do you think about what you read?
  3. What do you think of TikTok?
  4. What did you do during the COVID-19 lockdowns?
  5. Do you think the Balloon World Cup will become more popular?
  6. What obstacles are needed for keepy-uppy ballooning?
  7. What variations of keepy-uppy ballooning could there be?
  8. Should keepy-uppy ballooning become an Olympics sport?
  9. What questions would you like to ask the tournament winner?


Spelling

Paragraph 1

  1. A new sporting xftirue
  2. partaken in the decades-old imsetap
  3. Spanish soccer gleden
  4. The iauulgran Balloon World Cup
  5. His athleticism and dtesfsne
  6. a 6-2 rictyvo

Paragraph 2

  1. Pique got his nripintsioa
  2. establishing the annual tnnaemrtou
  3. went rivla on the social media site
  4. Pique then iedveerntn
  5. living room furniture as lstasbeco
  6. 32 countries eirpcdpttaia

 

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