Sport and Leisure - SV Murmel 001
With 100 participants, the German Championship in Kuhlemurmeln has passed through the stage in Weisenheim, Pfalz. This year's winner was "SV Murmel 001" from Sandhatten, Lower Saxony, as the organizers announced. Teams from "Sodeler Klickerverein" from Wöllersheim, Hesse, followed in second and third place accordingly.
A total of 25 teams with four players each competed against each other on three tables that looked like mini tennis courts, covered in red sand.
"The atmosphere is great, despite the bad weather," said Helmut Müller, the first chairman of the hosting ASV Weisenheim am Sand during the one-day tournament on Saturday. "We had to restructure a bit and set up tents over the tables, but the participants are all in good spirits." As in a large family, it goes at the Murmel tournament, Müller added.
Murmeln is not a children's game
The game "Geklickert" is played in eight groups with standard porcelain balls with a diameter of 16 millimeters. Six balls are used in the game. "Three white, three yellow, so you can tell them apart," explained the chairman.
Anyone who thinks of Murmeln as a children's game will be enlightened here: The average age of the players ranges between 40 and 50 years. "It's a game for adults," emphasized Müller. However, there are also young players integrated into the teams. "The youngest is ten to twelve years old."
A game can last up to half an hour
The goal of the game is to get the balls into the hole on the three by six meter large field. Initially, players throw the balls, later they can push them into the hole with their index finger. The team with the first nine points wins the game.
A match lasts on average half an hour. Müller also mentioned an exception: "If the ball flies outside the playing field when thrown, the game is automatically lost." This no longer applies later.
It is already the 27th German Championship in Kuhlemurmeln. The winner receives a Meisterschale as a Wanderpokal, and the first three teams receive a cup from ASV Weisenheim am Sand this time. The Meisterschaften will be held in Hesse next year.
The tournament in Weisenheim, Pfalz was hosted by the ASV Weisenheim am Sand, led by first chairman Helmut Müller. Despite the poor weather, teams from Wöllersheim in Hesse, including "Sodeler Klickerverein", participated in the Championship. The game of Kuhlemurmeln, often misunderstood as a children's game, attracts adults with an average age between 40 and 50 years. Helmut Müller highlighted that young players, such as those aged 10 to 12, are also part of the teams.
In this sport, standard porcelain balls with a diameter of 16 millimeters and six balls in total are used in eight groups. Players initially throw the balls and later push them into the hole using their index finger. The team that secures the first nine points wins the game, and a match generally lasts around half an hour.
This year's Championship saw "SV Murmel 001" from Sandhatten, Lower Saxony, emerge victorious. The Association from Weisenheim, Pfalz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, presented the winning team with a Meisterschale as a Wanderpokal, and the first three teams received cups from ASV Weisenheim am Sand. Next year, the German Championship in Kuhlemurmeln will be held in Hesse.
As leisure-time activities gain popularity, associations like the woodland wmole, from Wölfersheim, Palatinate, encourage participation in sporting events such as the Kuhlemurmeln Championship around Germany.
