Szeged is the only city in Hungary that can claim to have its own sport, the championship of which is held on Sundays by the city on the Tisza.

In 1903, the rules of the game of turul (or flight tennis) After that, he went on a tour promoting the sport in the big cities of the country, but the game only took root in Szeged and became the entertainment of mainly the poorer social strata.

Like tennis, turul is played individually or in pairs on a 5×10 meter court, with a net stretched two meters high on the halfway line. Competitors bring the tennis ball into play with special hardwood rackets. The rackets consist of a disc with a maximum diameter of 15 cm and a handle fixed perpendicular to its center. In the beginning, the handle was longer - and since the game started as the founding sport of fencing - it was grasped by competitors at the end or in the middle. Today, the handle can be no more than 18 centimeters long, and several types of grips are used - palm, quill or fixed between the fingers.

Turul takes place in a similar way to other racket ball games, but its peculiarity is that the right to serve belongs to the player who lost the previous ball session. The game is won by the player who scores six points with a difference of at least two points. The match lasts until two games are won for women, and three games are won for men and doubles. In the doubles game, hitting the ball is not tied to order.

Sunday's championship commemorates Dr. Géza Harsányi, a pediatrician and pulmonologist, who was an outstanding player of the second half of the 20th century and won 22 singles and doubles championships. At the tournament, matches are organized in women's, men's, doubles, as well as children's, youth and senior categories.

According to the organizers of the championship, the game has experienced a renaissance since 1990, and the people of Szeged are still keeping it alive today. In 1994, it was presented under the name "turul game" at the International Physical Education Teachers' Conference in Budapest. Since 1998, the Physical Education and Recreation Department of the SZTE Institute of Physical Education and Sport has been training future sports professionals every year. In 2004, for the 100th anniversary of the game, Gyöngyi Joó wrote down the history of the game and the latest competition rules.
In this, the development of the game can be easily traced, as it adapts to the requirements of today's competitive sports. It has simple rules, easy-to-set-up mobile courses, and maintenance-free devices. The game is enjoyable and gives a sense of success, and its fast ball movements are truly spectacular for the viewer. In 2006, it was presented with great success in Finland at the European Seminar of Physical Education Teachers. In 2023, the turul game from Szeged was included in the Urban Treasures of the City of Szeged.
On the occasion of the 120th birthday of the turul game in Szeged, the Dr. Géza Harsányi Memorial Competition will be held on August 6, now for the 15th time, in honor of the city's champion. Every year, the fight for the wandering cup takes place in several categories under the trees of the Erzsébet Liget in Újszeged. Several Turulian generations meet each other at this time. The organizers provide rackets for the participants of the competition.  

MTI