Dorfball

Dorfball is a played by 4 dorfers using conventional table tennis bats, balls and table tennis tables.

The purpose of the game is to be the first team to score 9 points. Each player on the team stands along the side of the table, unlike table tennis where players stand at either end.

The rules of play are fairly simple. Following a player's serve, and serves are passed clockwise around the table, the two players on one team may each hit the ball, but once only, before the ball must be hit back to the other team's side of the table. When hitting the ball, the ball must always travel upwards off the bat, meaning that downward and sideways shots are banned. Thus dorfers tend to hold the bats horizontally. On the serve the only regulation is that the ball goes upwards and over the net - there are no lets in dorfball.

If the ball bounces on one side of the table then the other team wins the point. Each team can win points irrespective of who served.

If both teams reach 8 points then the serve alternates diagonally between the two sides, instead of passing round both dorfers within the team, until one team leads by a two point margin.

The dorfer must not lean over to the other side of the table (infringement), or interfere with the net. An adjudicator is often necessary to establish the upwards trajectory of the ball and to rule on cases of infringment.

The founding fathers of this game were four innovative and original table tennis players who decided they wanted to play a game with a modern and quirky twist - Alex Brunicki, Kamran Adle, William Berk and Alex Bexworth, of Christ Church - a college of the University of Oxford.

Current paired rankings within Oxford are as follows (note - girls pairs do not, as yet, qualify for ranking):

1)Alex Brunicki / Kamran Adle
2)Marco Meola / Tristan Jon Wood
3)David James / Javid Lakha
4)Andy Sprague / Richard Bath
6)William Berk / Alex Bexworth

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