With the World Games starting on Thursday, here is part two of our alphabetical summary of all you need to know about the 10-day sporting extravaganza.
M — Mascots
As usual with mascots, Gao Mei (高妹, literally “tall girl”) and Syong Ge (雄哥, “brave boy”) look as if they’ve been designed by a three-year-old on Ritalin. According to the marketing blurb Gao and Syong, whose names together form the name of the host city, are: “the shape of water droplets and translucent, the two water spirits personify Kaohsiung as a city of the sea and the sun.” Their halos absorb solar energy like the roof of the main stadium and “illuminate with a message of ecology and environmental protection.” Yeah, right.
PHOTO: HUNG TING-HUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
N — Ninety-nine
Ninety-nine countries were to be represented in Kaohsiung (now it’s 105).
O — Olympics approved
PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YI, TAIPEI TIMES
The World Games is under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee and the IWGA abides by all principles of the Olympic Charter.
P — Pollution
Kaohsiung is an industrial city and surrounded by several steel works and oil refineries. Although its pollution problems are serious, they are thankfully nowhere near the level of last year’s Olympic host Beijing, so motorists can relax. Nevertheless, the Kaohsiung Organizing Committee still had to drain Lotus Lake — where the water-skiing, dragon boat racing and canoe polo will take place — after plans to clean up the lake’s algae problem using fish failed.
Around 850,000 tonnes of fresh water will have been pumped into the lake ahead of the Games to bring the water quality up to a standard fit for water sports.
Q — Quadrennial
Just like their more famous counterpart the Olympics, the World Games are held every four years.
R — Russia
If recent World Games are the yardstick, then the Russians will be the team to beat in Kaohsiung, having topped the medals table for the last two Games in Duisburg in 2005 and Akita in 2001.
S — Slogan
The official slogan of the World Games is “THE WORLD GAMES: 30+ SPORTS AT THEIR BEST!”
T — Tickets
Selling tickets is often a problem for the hosts of big sporting events and the Kaohsiung World Games is no exception. According to reports on July 8, only about 25 percent of tickets for the Games had been sold. A face-saving mass ticket giveaway may be in the offing.
U — Underused?
Although the main stadium is impressive, apart from the opening and closing ceremonies, it will only be used for the Rugby Sevens and Frisbee events. Let’s hope this inspiring piece of architecture is put to good use after the Games and does not become a gigantic white elephant (or should that be “white dragon”?).
V — Venues
Unlike the Olympics, the World Games host city isn’t required to build facilities or extend upon available infrastructure for the sake of hosting the Games. But Kaohsiung still built a brand new stadium. Twenty-three venues will be used in total, including Kaohsiung Swimming Pool (fin swimming and life saving), Kaohsiung Senior High School Gymnasium (Sumo) and Siziwan (beach handball, life saving).
W — Weather
With the average high this month well above 30ºC and humidity hovering at 75 percent, athletes not used to competing in such conditions for outdoor events such as orienteering and rugby could struggle.
X — Exchanges
Sports are regularly exchanged between the Olympics and the World Games. The World Games serve as a breeding ground for Olympic sports and also picks up sports rejected from the Olympics. The triathlon started off in the World Games before becoming an Olympic sport in 2000, as did taekwondo. Similarly, sports that get kicked off the Olympic roster end up in the World Games. Softball will feature in Kaohsiung just a year after getting bumped from the Olympics.
Y — You
The World Games are a great opportunity for Taiwan and Kaohsiung to grab some positive news coverage. However, the games will only be a success if everyone gets involved, so if you have some spare time get yourself down to Kaohsiung.
Z — Zuoying
The location of the main stadium and Lotus Lake, Zuoying, is one of the city’s 11 administrative districts and is also home to Taiwan’s largest naval base.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
Playing soccer and competing for trophies is the best way that many transplanted Hong Kongers and Macanese have found to stay in touch, and to interact with Taiwanese society, said officials at the Taiwan-Hong Kong-Macau Football Friendship Cup, which was held on April 13. Twelve clubs, mostly of players and coaches originally from Hong Kong and Macau, took part in the tournament in New Taipei City. The event is sponsored by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council. Participating teams were from the wider Taipei area, Hsinchu, Taichung, Kaohsiung and other areas. They divided into two