Gorodki (Russian Skittles)
Gorodki is a folk sport that originated in Russia and later also found popularity in other neighboring countries. Though the sport existed and was played for centuries, it was not officially codified until 1923.
The objective of the sport is to strike down a group of cylindrical wooden objects called gorodki by throwing a bat. The gorodki will be arranged in one of the 15 different formations, which are, cannon, fork, star, arrow, well, crankshaft, artillery, raquet, machine gun, lobster, watchmen, sickle, shooting gallery, airplane, and letter.
Gorodki is a folk sport that originated in Russia The game play involves players taking turns to strike one or more of the formations using a wooden bat, and force all the gorodkis out of the playing area. Players use a wooden bat with a handle, similar to that of a baseball bat. The bats have to be thrown from a fixed distance from the formations. Each player gets to throw 2 to 4 bats per turn. Players use different techniques to throw the bat for different formations.
In popular culture, the sport was used as a road block challenge for contestants in the reality TV show Amazing Race. Gorodki is also available as a game on the Wii platform since 2009.
Similar Sports
- Mölkky — players use a wooden pin (also called a "mölkky") to try to knock over wooden pins.
- Finnish Skittles — opposing players take turns to knock down their opponent's skittles by throwing a bat.
- Kubb — a lawn game where the object is to knock over wooden blocks ('kubbs') by throwing wooden batons at them.
- Bunnock — a kind of skittles game that is played with bones (commonly known as "Game of Bones")
Related Pages
- About Bowling sports (general)
- Sport in Russia
- Complete list of sports
- The Encyclopedia of Sports
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