By Xinhua,
Beijing : The third round of domestic ticket sales for the Beijing Olympics has started but the online purchasing system seemed to hit a snag again. A total of 1.38 million tickets were put on sale in this round for 16 sports, including boxing, soccer, volleyball, basketball.
However, the online sales system turned problematic as buyers could not finish the final payment though they were able to log onto the website and select tickets easily. The system collapsed due to overwhelming demand hours after the second round of sales started last November, and the organisers then were forced to allocate tickets by draw.
According to the Olympic ticketing centre, more than 60,000 tickets for eight sessions were sold out barely three hours after the sales began at Bank of China branches and on the official website Monday. Hundreds of people waited for hours at Bank of China branches for a chance to purchase tickets.
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Cuban judokas eye Olympic tickets
Havana: The Cuban men’s and women’s judo teams are in Miami to participate in an Olympic qualifying event May 7-11. Cuba’s women’s judo participants include Driulis Gonzalez, the gold medallist in Rio de Janeiro 2007 in the 63-kg category, world champion Yurisel Laborde (78 kg) and the Yanet Bermoy (48 kg).
The team also includes Yurisleidis Lupetey (57kg), Yalengis Mestre (52kg), Yalennis Castillo (70kg) and Idalis Ortiz (over 78kg). The men’s judo team is headed by Yordanis Arencibia (66kg) and Oreidis Despaigne (100kg), silver and bronze medal winners respectively, in Rio de Janeiro’s Judo World Cup.
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Polish Ambassador says Olympics will be successful
Beijing: Polish Ambassador to China Krzysztof Szumski said here that he believed the Olympic Games would be a success. “With the wide participation of the peoples of the world, the cooperation between athletes will be strengthened. The Olympics will bring about progress to the Chinese people,” Szumski said.
China forged diplomatic ties with Poland in 1949, soon after the People’s Republic of China was founded. Szumski said next year would be the 60th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties, and the celebrations would further the development of bilateral relations and cooperation.
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Asian volleyball body backs Olympics
Beijing: The Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) has expressed its firm support to the Beijing Olympics at its 28th Board of Administration annual meeting here. The continental ruling body of volleyball said it opposes any attempt to mix Olympics and politics.
“The Olympic Games is a universal sporting gathering led by the International Olympic Committee. One of its fundamental aims is to contribute to world peace, friendship and collaboration among the people all over the world,” the AVC said in a statement.