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For several years Australian gateballers have only had a couple of options for where to buy gateball equipment.  The Hong Kong Gateball Association were an early favourite, but in recent times there have been complaints about their quality and speed of service.  Sunshine Ace in Japan makes excellent mallets and provides great service, but they are relatively expensive and some players find the mallets too short and light.  It is lucky then that we’ve discovered a new player in the market.

Jinjian Sports is a company based in China which has been producing gateball equipment since 1998.  They recently sent me three of their mallets to review - the fabulously named Beautiful and Virtuous Series, the Reveres the Glory Series and the Leap Series.

The great news is that the Jinjian mallets are what a lot of Australian players have been waiting for – long mallets with heavy heads.  Even better, they are cheap and appear good quality.

The Beautiful and Virtuous Series is Jinjian’s entry-level quality all metal mallet.  US$28 gets you an adjustable all-metal shaft, detachable head and rubber handle.  Like all Jinjian mallets, you can choose the maximum length of the mallet (100cm or 115cm) and the weight of the head. Each of the mallets we received had 530g heads, although Jinjian say they will manufacture them to whatever weight you want.  So is it beautiful?  Well, the mallet is so purple it would make Barney blush.  Is it virtuous?  That is up to you.

The Reveres the Glory Series mallet is the next mallet up in the Jinjian range.  For an extra US$14 you get a black and grey mallet with one of the longest rubber handles I’ve ever seen on a gateball mallet.  Fully extended, the mallet is around 1.15 meters high!  Beyond the colour and handle, it doesn’t appear to be much different to the Beautiful and Virtuous Series.

My only gripe with the two adjustable mallets is the locking mechanism.  As on most adjustable mallets, there is a nut which is screwed to lock the shaft at the desired length.  In addition, the shaft can also be locked by twisting the handle of the mallet.  This works fine, however, it requires gripping the head of the mallet while twisting the handle in order to loosen the shaft.  This puts pressure on the metal collar that attaches the shaft to the head.  The end result is that you occasionally end up unscrewing bits of the mallet you didn’t mean to.  Ultimately it isn’t a problem because everything can be reattached, but be prepared!

The Leap Series mallet has a single piece shaft with a detachable head.  The shaft has a short rubber grip at the top, much like a golf club.  The Leap Series cannot be adjusted and comes at a standard length of 100 cm.

Both the Beautiful and Virtuous and the Reveres the Glory Series mallets came in sturdy material shoulder bags (maroon and black respectively).  However, the standout case was the bag in which the Leap Series mallet arrived.  It looked remarkably like one leg of a pair of fluoro tartan golf pants and was big enough to hold several mallets (I’ve used it to carry four) as well as other bits of equipment such as balls, bibs and timers.  Unfortunately I can’t find an image of the same coloured bag on the Jinjian website, so if you want to order one of the bags, you may have to settle for more sedate colours including black, grey or maroon.

Jinjian Sports also sell a range of mallets in addition to the ones above.  The Vigor Series mallet is a golden/tan version of the Beautiful and Virtuous Series mallet.  There are also a number of budget mallets ranging from US$18 to US$23.  From the photos on the website, it looks like these might be very similar to the Hong Kong mallets that many Australian gateballers already use.  Given that a number of people have reported problems with the quality of their Hong Kong mallets, the best option will be to fork out the extra US$5 to buy a Vigor or Beautiful and Virtuous Series mallet (as if you weren’t sold on the name).

Jinjian Sport also sells balls, gates, electronic scorers, timers and bibs.
You can order equipment from Jinjian Sports by visiting their website (www.jinjianchina.com/en-index.php).  There are a few language barriers, so you will need to be as clear as possible with your English.  More than once they’ve sent me an email about my order for a “baseball bat” – I guess Google Translator has never heard of gateball before!  Payment can be made by international bank transfer, which can be done at your local bank branch (but will add around $30 to your costs).  Jinjian Sport are very fast at responding to inquiries and processing orders – it should only take two weeks at most from placing your order to receiving your equipment.

I’m going to leave the Reveres the Glory Series mallet with the Canberra Gateballers who have promised to take it to any of the competitions they play in so you can have a look for yourself.  Then we’ll give it away at the Australian Championships in Rockhampton later this year!

As always, please send an email to info@gateball.com.au if you order any equipment through Jinjian Sports.  It would be great to hear about your experience with their products and service.

Reviewer: Alex Park

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