After the obvious pleasures of swimming, and then volleyball, Moscow's beaches are being overwhelmed by a new craze, ragball.

The game is essentially a combination of traditional basketball and Greco-Roman wrestling. Which means that fighting is mandatory, although direct hits to the face and punches on the back are forbidden. The game is said to have earned the nickname "New Russian Entertainment." The sport was officially recognized in 1997. This achievement was largely thanks to the efforts of world-champion Greco-Roman wrestler Alexander Karelin. The next objective is to get the game into the Olympic program.

The first round of what is being called "The World Beach Tour" starts at the Serebryany Bor 3 beach, Aug. 4, at 4 p.m. The contest has been organized by the Professional Ragball League and runs through August. Other dates to watch for are Aug. 11 and 18 (at 11 a.m.), and Aug. 24 and 25 (at 3 p.m.).

Keen to promote the sport, the Professional Ragball League founded the National Beach Ragball Association. The league believes that beach ragball is poised to become especially popular with younger crowds. The tournament works on a knockout basis, each match consists of four periods of 5 minutes of playing time. A second round will be held in Israel this October, and the finals will be in the Czech Republic in May 2002.

What: Sport contest
Serebryany Bor 3 beach
Khoroshevsky Serebryany Bor, Line #4
Metro: Polezhayevskaya,
trolleybus #20 or #65 to the terminal station
Tel: 199-0100