Wrap

This post will conclude my contributions to the blog. Thanks to all the readers.

YouTube Videos

Closing Ceremony - Updated 12 October

The closing ceremony was an incredible spectacle held at the local high school in front of a massive crowd including of tournament volunteers, officials and participants.

PM's Letter of Support

Knock-out phase – Sunday - Updated 12 October

Total dominance by Chinese teams, the strongest Japanese teams (including the defending champions Osaka Midori) were mostly bundled out early in the knock-out phase.

Round Robin Phase – Saturday and Sunday - Updated 12 October

The first thing I noticed when I arrived on Saturday morning was how many people were about. Spectator numbers was considerable with some of the round robin (of which 12 are played simultaneously) containing hundreds of spectators huddled around the court, creating a great atmosphere.

Practice and Opening Ceremony - Thursday and Friday - Updated 12 October

Thursday - First practice day, we were allowed 2 hours at the courts. The courts are fantastic, long grass but very flat and true.

Hong Kong

Seven members of the Canberra Gateball team have met up in Hong Kong to explore the city and play some warm-up matches against other World Championship sides.

Tournament Program

You may have noticed that I have been updating other posts as more information becomes available (ie weather, venue pictures, mascot). I note the date of the most recent update in the post title to help readers identify the posts worth viewing.

This post contains some bits and pieces from the tournament program.

Press Coverage

Here's a summary of the news articles covering the lead-up to the World Champs.

Let the puns begin.

Draw - Released

The block draws for the World Gateball Championships has been released. The blocks involving Australian teams are as follows:

World Gateball Union Letter

This letter from the World Gateball Union updates the schedule and number of partipating teams from each country.

Shanghai Weather - Updated 8 September

The weather around Shanghai was wild ast week with typhoons threatening off the coast. There have been some reports of flooding although the worst appears to have past, for now.

Team Profiles - Southport

Australia will be sending its largest contingent ever to the World Gateball Championships with five teams representing Australia in Shanghai. Here is a profile of one of those teams.

Team Name: Southport

Shanghai - Venue Pictures - Updated 9 September

A couple of pictures of the venue in Shanghai are below.