Tue, Aug 12, 2008 page19

• HANCOCK'S GAMES: Offering enlightenment on the empty seats mystery

  • By John Hancock / CONTRIBUTING REPORTER IN BEIJING
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  Taiwan’s athletes have been warmly embraced and the Games’ organizers have been hospitable, but not everyone here is schooled in etiquette.
  
  

  While the spat over Taiwan’s official designation was cleared up before the Olympics, now that competition has begun confusion is reigning again.
  
  

  Taiwan fans here are supporting their team with the chant “Go Chinese Taipei,” but they are in the minority and their shouts have been falling on deaf ears.
  
  

  Instead, their calls have been drowned out by locals screaming “Go China.”
  
  

  This was conspicuous during the early badminton and weightlifting competitions, but it is not causing undue consternation in the Taiwan camp.
  
  

  Badminton’s Hsieh Yu-hsing turned it into a positive when he beat Iran’s Kaveh Mehrabi on Saturday and it didn’t prevent Chen Wei-ling taking a bronze in the women’s 48kg weightlifting.
  
  

  Team Taiwan press officer Tseng Wen-hung said there was little anyone could do about the situation.
  
  

  “Even so, it should be made clear the organizers, government and media are following protocol and calling Taiwan by its proper name at the Olympics, Chinese Taipei,” Tseng said.
  
  

  Another blip on the horizon that Tseng addressed was scheduling for the baseball, as Taiwan will play a tough game against Japan late at night on Thursday evening, starting 7pm. They will then go up against China the next morning at 10:30am.
  
  

  Fans have been complaining the scheduling is a ploy to give China a better chance of performing well against Taiwan.
  
  

  But Team Taiwan spokesman Tseng was non-committal and Richard Lin, the secretary-general of the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association, was reported as saying the schedule could work to Taiwan’s advantage.
  
  

  He said professional players were accustomed to one-day, two-game schedules and it was an exaggeration to say the team would only get a couple of hours sleep.
  
  

  Finally, after all the complicated ticketing arrangements — sold in batches on the Web and at banks and post offices, long lines and incredible demand — there are still empty seats in the stands at the gymnastics, beach volleyball, badminton and other competitions.
  
  

  It’s a bit of a farce. The whole point of selling tickets at such low prices was that the masses would be able to see the events. Millions were disappointed when they couldn’t get tickets and are now watching empty stands on their TVs at home.
  
  

  A Beijing Games official admitted the organizers were scratching their heads as to how this has come to pass.
  
  

  Let’s enlighten them. Tickets for most events can be bought for the cover price, plus a fee of 500 yuan (US$73), at a ticket agency that has opened up in downtown Beijing’s Wangfujing Street.
  
  

  Basically, all the VIPs and officials who were given free tickets, and obviously don’t like sports, have not been turning up, giving their tickets away or selling them to agencies.
  
  

  The agencies are running a hush-hush operation and no one dares sell tickets outside venues (at the risk of being imprisoned for 14 days).
  
  

  But, if you know where to go, reasonably priced tickets are available.
  
  

  Trouble is, not many people know where to go.
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