RANGOON — Professional and amateur chinlone players gathered at Rangoon’s Armenian Church on Thursday evening to play the traditional Burmese take on caneball as part of the Yangon Art and Heritage Festival. The Armenian Apostolic Church of St. John the Baptist was consecrated in 1863 and is one of the oldest surviving churches in Rangoon.
Chinlone, for its part, is one of the oldest sports in Burma. It is most commonly played as a competition-less, teamwork-oriented game in which participants take turns keeping a rattan ball airborne, with points awarded based on the execution of a specific set of designated techniques.
Organizers of the festival, the theme of which is “My Yangon My Home,” said they chose chinlone because of the ball used in the sport. The chinlone ball, formed of interconnected rattan strips, symbolized the aim of the festival: to connect people through various forms of art. During the event, two groups of amateur and professional players entertained attendees with rounds of chinlone in the church compound.
The event was attended by Father Khoren Hovhannisyan, pastor of the church, the British ambassador and members of the public.
