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ICE ICE BRANDY: A Hidden Winter Sports Jewel


BROWSING mainstream sports channels will have you experience the usual sports that never seem to go out of style – Football, hockey, tennis, basketball, volleyball, baseball, golf, and similar. Not knowing about the more niche and unheard of sports is not that unheard of.

One such sport many people have never heard of is Bandy, a discipline that mixes different elements of hockey with some aspects of soccer. Its origin is a controversial topic as many fans believe it to originate from Russia as the term ‘’Russian hockey’’ is often used to describe the sport.

However, it is a known fact that rules for the game were first officially published in England all the way back in 1882 with an international federation being founded in 1955. 

Bandy – What kind of sport is it? 

Bandy is a sport that is mostly common within parts of Eastern Europe and it has a large following in Russia and Scandinavian countries, mainly Sweden and Finland. Similarly to hockey, the sport is played with skates and ice hockey sticks. The teams, consisting of 11 players on each side, compete to score a goal against the opposing team. 

The playing rink is larger than the one you’ll see in standard hockey and is comparable to a soccer field, being 110m in length and 65m in width, in contrast to a relatively smaller hockey rink which is usually 60m by 30m, with similarly sized goals. The main glaring difference from average hockey games is the fact that the game is played with a small red or orange ball around the size of a tennis ball, instead of a puck.

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The games run in two halves of 45 minutes, and are occasionally adjusted for temperature changes, being played at 3 periods of 30 minutes each. If the teams remain tied after the 90 minutes have elapsed, there are two extra 10 minute halves played somewhat like in soccer, only with longer extensions. If the teams still remain tied, shootouts will be implemented to determine the winner. Certain rules from soccer are also included such as offside rules

Big moments in Bandy history

The first ever Bandy match took place in 1875 at ‘The Crystal Palace’ in London, however it was still dubbed ‘’Hockey on ice’’ at that time. In 1882, members of the Bury Fen Bandy Club published the first official rules of the game and in 1891 the first international bandy match was played in Huntingdonshire with Bury Fen facing up against the Haarlemsche Hockey and Bandy club from Holland. 

Bandy had a large following in Scandinavian countries and parts of central Europe up to the first world war. It was even featured in the Scandinavian ‘Nordic Games’ which was at the time the first international sports event for winter sports. Russia being one of the biggest giants of the sport, also boasts the best bandy player of all time Sergei Lomanov Jr.

He began his career in 1997 and is still active in the sport to this day, leading his team to many victories over his years as a champion of the sport.

Bandy and its betting scene

With such an obscure and unconventional sport you might ask yourself – what about betting on Bandy? Just as any other sport, Bandy has a large betting scene that many hobbyists enjoy. The betting scene is very reminiscent of ice hockey betting, with fans being able to bet on goal markets and teams to win markets. However, compared to other betting markets, it is fairly limited due to the fairly unknown and mysterious nature of the sport.

Conclusion

While it might not be exactly the sport that you would see people getting riled up over at your local pub or the sport you would enthusiastically put on your favorite club’s t-shirt on and cheer for, it is a big passion for people and enjoyed in many countries in the world. If you think the same old tennis and basketball matches are getting stale and repetitive, mix it up with some good old Bandy. 

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