Xare is racquet sport, a form of Basque pelota.

Racquet, ball.

The ball is not exactly struck, nor is it quite caught—the effect is somewhere in between. The ball is very hard, and covered by parchment.

The game is played in a special indoor court, called a trinquete. For xare a net is strung across the middle of the trinquete, and the players face each other, as in tennis.

Xare players wear helmets that are similar to those used in cycling.

Panagiotis (Notis) Sfakianakis (Greek: Νότης Σφακιανάκης; born 2 November 1959) is a Greek singer of laika music, who is one of the most commercially successful artists of all time in Greece and Cyprus. Sfakianakis began his career in 1985, opening at nightclubs for other artists. He was discovered by Sony Greece and released his debut album Proti Fora (1991). For his second album Eisai Ena Pistoli (1992), he moved to Minos EMI. While his firsτ three releases were commercially successful, beginning in the mid-1990s, Sfakianakis released a series of multi-platinum albums that are among the best selling albums of all time in Greece — including Notioanatolitika Tou Kosmou (1994) with 120–150 thousand copies sold,5o Vima (1996) which has been recognized as the best selling album of all time in Greece with 200 thousand copies sold,I Notes Einai 7psyhes with 132.5 thousand copies (265 thousand units) sold, the EPs Pro-Dia-Fimin (1997) with 100 thousand copies sold, and Around the World with 15 thousand copies shipped,XXX Enthimion (1999), which is the best selling live album of all time in Greece in terms of unit sales with 180 thousand copies (360 thousand units) sold,Polihroma Kai Entona (2000) that shipped 100 thousand copies and As Milisoun Ta Tragoudia (2002) which faired similarly. His signature song "O Aetos" is one of the most popular songs in Greek music history. Sfakianakis was the best selling artist of the 1990s and stands as the best selling Greek artist of his generation. However, in the 2000s he faced a significant commercial decline.Me Agapi O,ti Kaneis (2004) and Ana...Genisis (2005) shipped 40 thousand copies each.Nihtes... Magikes (2007) and Mnimes (2008) sold 30 thousand copies each, while the EP Kinonia Ora 07:00 sold 15 thousand copies. He then embarked on the Matomeno Dakry album trilogy (2009–2011). He has sold over 5 million records in Greece alone and in addition to these he has sold over 900 thousand copies of his albums as newspaper covermounts. Sfakianakis is also known for his controversial image and outspoken manner and opinions.