The 2019 National Gateball Contest and the 13th Cross-Straits Gateball Invitational opens in Fuzhou, capital city of East China's Fujian province on June 26. [Photo/Xinhua]

The 2019 National Gateball Contest & 13th Cross-Straits Gateball Invitational opened in Fuzhou, capital of East China's Fujian province, on June 26.

A total of 52 squads, including 10 from Taiwan, took part in the event, competing for a prize of 18,000 yuan.

The event, now in its 13th year, is jointly sponsored by the Chinese Gateball Association, Fujian Provincial Bureau of Sports, and the Fuzhou municipal people's government.

Gateball is a mallet team sport played between two five-person squads on a rectangular field. Each of the 10 players is assigned a wooden ball and alternately strike the ball with a stick to try to hit the goal pole through up to three gates on the court to score. The team with the most points at the end of the 30-minute match wins.

Gateball originated in Japan but became popular in China as a recreational sport among seniors in the 1980s due to its non-contact nature and convenience to play.