6 Deliciously Summery Sports

There's nothing likegetting sporty in thesummer - try thesegames for size, aroundthe Ryanair network

TENNIS
Paying homage to Swiss tennis ace Roger Federer with some quick back strokes on a Basel town square will probably land you in jail. Instead, try the island of Mallorca, where the infinitely cooler Rafael Nadal was born. There’s even a state-of-theart tennis academy (www.tennisacademymallorca.com), where Boris Becker and SteffiGraf once trained.

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FLY FISHING
Nothing could be sweeter than standing in cool, clear waters on a July evening trying to catch a trout. Apart from actually catching a trout, possibly. And if you’re thigh-deep in the picturesque Trysil river in Norway, you’ll have a good chance. You’ll also be in the kind of wilderness that bears picture in their dreams.

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AIZKORA PROBA
Pétanque is for men of a certain age. So if you’re in Basque country and don’t want to get embroiled in a conversation about “the War”, try “aizkora proba”, basically wood chopping – a staple of the local summer festival circuit. Sure it’s dangerous, but think of the applause you’ll get as you heft that axe.

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CRICKET
It is, of course, illegal these days to use the term “leather on willow” when writing about cricket – the phrase being outlawed by The Cliché General Council in 2003. So if you want to hear the thwack of, uhm, ball on wood and England seems just too obvious, try the small south-west French town of Eymet, where an expat team of Brits takes on all-comers throughout the season.

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CHESS
Of the outdoors variety and in the right setting – such as in a Hungarian park on a warm summer’s morning – what could be better than watching two cantankerous geniuses battle it out across a stone table? If the day turns chilly, try one of the local spas, where the game is also oddly popular.

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WIFE CARRYING
It’s football month this month (go England!/ France!/Spain!/wherever you’re from!), but if that and the other more traditional sports in our round-up don’t do it for you, head to the Finnish town of Sonkajärvi where, on 2–3 July, the annual Wife Carrying World Championships take place. The good news is that if you are unmarried and still want to take part, it is permissible to “borrow” a wife for the day.

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