
CULTURE CLASH
Sports will dominate our lives this summer with soccer’s EURO 2016 and the Olympic Games coming up. But how about these three exotic disciplines instead? Not stadium fillers, but spectacular all the same!
Hawaii
Splashdiving has been a popular pastime in Hawaii since around 1700. Scoffers would call it a cannonball competition. The principle is simple: The winner is the diver who makes the biggest splash.
Switzerland
Hornussen is a Swiss national sport. It’s a little like cricket or baseball, but with hockey and golf elements, too. Each team has up to 18 players, and a match lasts for four hours. Tradition has it that the losers pay for supper.
India
Polo sticks? Yes, but up to three meters longer than regular ones. Ponies? No, elephants. This sport is popular in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. But are the elephants just as happy about elephant polo?