If you've ever been tempted to sling your old mobile, the Eastern Europeans are more than several steps ahead of you.

To be precise, they're 57 metres ahead of you. This is the current record in the phone throwing competitions that litter the sporting calendar in Eastern Europe and the Nordics.

Early rounds see contestants throwing handsets provided by a sponsor, according to reports. The leading 10 contestants hold a throw-off with the same phone - a Samsung SGH-R200 - used to ensure fair play.

If you think phone throwing is without artistic merit - think again. Style and aesthetic beauty are taken into account when the world mobile phone-throwing championship takes place.

Reporting on last year's phone chucking world championship, held in the Finnish city of Savonlinna, Pravda comments on the various rules and techniques (free style, traditional style - from the shoulder) of the compo. ®