Description
Sungka is a Philippine mancala game, which is now also played wherever Philippine migrants are living; e.g., in Macau, Taiwan, Germany, and the USA. Like the closely related Congkak, it is traditionally a women�s game. Sungka was first described by the Jesuit priest Father Jos� Sanchez in his dictionary of the Bisaya language (=Cebuano) in 1692 [manuscript] as Kunggit. Father Jos� Sanchez, who had arrived in the Philippines in 1643, wrote that at the time, the game was played with seashells on a wooden, boat-like board. The Aklanon people still call the game Kunggit. Jos� Sanchez (born Josef Zanzini [*1616�1692] in Trieste, Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation) is known for founding the town of Jagna on Bohol, which is today famous for its rich historical heritage. There are Sungka tournaments in the Philippines, Taiwan, Australia, Austria, England, and the USA. The biggest competition is held each year at the Kadayawan Sports Festival in Davao. In May 2006, the Philippine Embassy compound in Pretoria, South Africa, hosted a Sungka tournament during the ASEAN Games and Sports, which was held under the auspices of ASEAN Embassies based in South Africa. The six winners for the first Sungka game competition were participants from the following embassies: Vietnam, 1st; Malaysia, 2nd; Malaysia, 3rd; Indonesia, 4th; Philippines, 5th and Indonesia, 6th. In 2008, the Philippine Language and Cultural Association of Australia, Inc. (PLCAA) organized a Sungka competition at the Sydney Regatta Centre, Penrith. The Department of Computer Studies at the Imperial College of Science in London (England) held a computer tournament in 2004.