One of the highlights of the World Games so far has been the numerous colorful sets of supporters cheering on their favorite athletes.
Of them all, probably the craziest bunch in Kaohsiung are the Swiss fistball fans.
The fistball addicts, dressed in the red and white of the Swiss national flag, endeared themselves to countless locals during the four-day fistball tournament with their big smiles, friendly nature and catchy chants, ensuring everyone at the stadium enjoyed themselves.
PHOTO: RICHARD HAZELDINE, TAIPEI TIMES
Roman Mattle, 52, from the Swiss town of Frauenfeld, is president of the CFFN, or the National Friends of Fistball Club.
Mattle is a travel agent and uses his professional contacts to organize travel plans for the team, plus any fans who want to follow their fistball heroes around the world. Club members pay 100 Swiss francs (US$94) a year in fees, money that goes to supporting the team.
Speaking over fried noodles and a beer during a break in the fistball action on Sunday, Mattle said last year the club took 96 supporters to a tournament in Namibia.
PHOTO: RICHARD HAZELDINE, TAIPEI TIMES
For the World Games, Mattle organized a 12-day trip for 17 fans and the players that included a few days in Taipei and a sightseeing trip down the east coast to Taroko Gorge and Hualien before arriving in Kaohsiung for the tournament. The group was also due to stop over in Hong Kong on the way back.
And despite the disappointment of seeing their heroes lose in the final, Mattle said the trip was worth it.
“The Taiwanese people are very friendly, helpful. Although we cannot understand one word of the language, we don’t need to. We just need our hands, our faces and our smiles to connect with them,” he said, adding, “We go back to Switzerland and we say Taiwan is one of the best countries outside Europe. We will come back for sure.”
But the Swiss fistball fanatics are not without Taiwanese competition, as anyone who attended a korfball match would know.
For each time the bronze-medal winning korfball team was in action the stands were packed with throngs of noisy, yellow-clad supporters.
Most of them, said Yang Rong-guang, a 26-year-old korfball coach, hail from two schools in Taipei where the sport is popular, Wan Fang Senior High School and Hu Jiang High School.
Talking before Monday’s semi-final against the Netherlands, he said around 75 fans had traveled to Kaohsiung for six days in order to give the Taiwan korfball team some vocal encouragement. Many others came on their own, he said.
And although they failed to inspire the team to victory, there is no doubt the team appreciated their efforts.
Another noisy contingent are the red-shirted fans of Taiwan’s highly successful ladies tug of war team, who bought 140 extremely vocal supporters from Changhua to cheer on the gold-medal winners during Sunday’s competition.
Cheerleading team member Chen Cheng-long said its members are extremely proud of the girls, who hail from the county, and they follow them wherever they compete, including a trip to Italy last year for the world indoor championships.
Cheerleading is of course much easier when your team is as successful as Taiwan’s ladies. But win or lose, the presence of these “fan-atics” has certainly helped to make the World Games a really enjoyable experience.
FRUSTRATION: Alcaraz made several unforced errors over four sets against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, who had never made it past the third round in a major competition Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round of the French Open after laboring past Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the Friday night session. The second-seeded Spaniard had never before played Dzumhur, a 33-year-old Bosnian who had never been past the third round at any major tournament. “I suffered quite a lot today,” Alcaraz said. “The first two sets was under control, then he started to play more deeply and more aggressively. It was really difficult for me.” Dzumhur hurt his left knee in a fall in the second round, and had treatment on Friday on his right leg during the
‘DREAM’: The 5-0 victory was PSG’s first Champions League title, and the biggest final win by any team in the 70-year history of the top-flight European competition Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time as Luis Enrique’s brilliant young side outclassed Inter on Saturday in the most one-sided final ever with teenager Desire Doue scoring twice in an astonishing 5-0 victory. Doue supplied the pass for Achraf Hakimi to give PSG an early lead and the 19-year-old went from provider to finisher as his deflected shot doubled the advantage in the 20th minute. Doue scored again just after the hour mark, ending any doubt about the outcome before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ran away to get the fourth and substitute Senny Mayulu, another teenager, made it five. Inter were
The Greek basketball league finals between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos were suspended by the government on Monday following on-court scuffles involving rival security teams. The best-of-five series is at 1-1. The third game, scheduled for today, has been postponed. The owners of both clubs were summoned to meet with the country’s sports minister. They “will be asked to provide explicit guarantees that this situation will be brought to an end. If not, this year’s championship will be definitively canceled,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said. “There can be no tolerance for such pathological phenomena of violence and delinquency.” In online posts, the owners of Panathinaikos and
Defender Steph Catley says her UEFA Women’s Champions League title win with Arsenal last week will act as motivation to secure continental glory with Australia when the country hosts the Women’s Asian Cup next year. Catley and compatriots Caitlin Foord and Kyra Cooney-Cross were part of the Arsenal squad that defeated Barcelona in Lisbon on Sunday last week, before flying to Melbourne to feature in the Matildas’ 2-0 win over Argentina on Friday. The game was the first in a two-match series against the South Americans as the Australians continue preparations for the continental championship in March next year, when they would