Life in Kaoshiung

The FITB would like to extend a special thank you to all the many, many volunteers, who helped us organizing the tchoukball competition at the 2009 World Games or looking after all the athletes and officials during this week. With most of you we did not get the chance to say THANK YOU personally but we hope you know that all your help highly contributed to the sucssess of this event and we want you to know that we very much enjoyed our stay in your city. THANK YOU...

The official closing ceremony of the 2009 World Games took place in Kaohsiung’s Main Stadium. This event was a special moment, especially for the participating athletes, who entered the full stadium under the applause of the cheering crowd. The ceremony was a beautiful mix of lights, fire works, dance and music shows. The next World Games in 2013 will take place in Cali (Colombia).

Just after the end of the men’s final, the three first teams received their respective medals and especially the gold medal winners Chinese Taipei (both men and women) were warmly applauded by their home public.

The men’s final of the 2009 World Games tchoukball championship was won by Chinese Taipei 67-39. Both teams played top class tchoukball offering a wonderful game to all spectators. Although the Swiss team played very well they could not find an answer to Chinese Taipei’s quick and very efficient way of playing. Congratulations to both teams for their respective medals.

The men’s final is due to start any minute now. Between the ladies final and the men’s final, the large public in the sports hall is being entertained by a group of cheer leaders, whose performance was highly acclaimed by the public.

In an intensive game, where both Chinese Taipei and Swiss played at a very high level, Chinese Taipei won the ladies final with 50 –37. Period results were: 16-13, 20-10, 14-14. Congratulations to both teams for their respective medals.

The Singapore team has continued to surprise at their first participation at world championships and have just won the bronze medal, beating the team of Great Britain 46 - 42. The two teams started very well in the match, with the first period finishing 18-15. In the second period Singapore extended the lead and kept it to the end of the game. Congratulations to the Singapore team, for their excellent performance at this tournament and the bronze medal.

In the final for 3rd place, Canada won against Great Britain with 45-33. The Canadian ladies made the difference thanks to their excellent collective defences and good tactics in the attacks.

Canada won the first final, for place 5 in the final ranking against Macao. The game was played in a friendly athmosphere with some very spectacular Canadian defences.

People here in Kaohsiung started to queue up in front of the National Kaohsiung Normal University Gymnasium from 4 am in the morning today hoping to obtain a ticket to see today’s finals!!!

The second day ended with an exiting game between Switzerland and Singapore, which was decisive for the second place in the final, next to Taiwan. The game was intense and highly disputed. In the end, the experience of the Swiss players made the difference and the Swiss won 63-52.

All players and staff are very fortunate to have a full medical staff at hand – including several physiotherapists. Their services have been well used both yesterday and today.

While the teams playing the first game today had an early start, some teams and staff members enjoyed their breakfast at the hotel. For some it was a quite moment to finish waking up and prepare for the day, for others it was an opportunity to share a moment with their team or make the first jokes of the day.

The first day of the tchoukball competition at the World Games 2009 ended with a beautiful and intense game between the Swiss and GB men teams. In the end the Swiss won the game with 55-52.

Between the different locations of the event (sports hall, hotel and catering center) bus no 340 runs the special Tchoukball Shuttle Bus. Not only does it transport the participants, but it also offers a great opportunity to sing  Karaoke – which some teams do not hesitate to practice!

All teams have now arrived in Kaohsiung and are discovering the city. Some of the teams also took advantage to go and see other sports such as gymnastics and squash.

In the afternoon the Singapore men won their game against Canada. The game was played at a fast and interesting pace and in the end Singapore won with 50-47.

For the first game of Chinese Taipei (men) vs Singapore, we just experienced what the atmosphere will be over the next few days. People have been queuing since early morning to get the tickets as spectators and have been cheering for their home team. The atmosphere is fantastic and we hope that even more people will come in the games to come. Chinese Taipei won the game with 71-36.

Now the tournament is well on its way: the first game of the tournament was Canada vs Singapore in the women’s tournament. The game was won by Canada 41-33.

Today at 6 pm local time, the official opening ceremony took place in the sports venue. The different teams were presented and the tchoukball competition officially declared open by Xin-Tsun Liu, director general of the economic development bureau of Koahsiung City. It was a special moment as we were all together at the same time in the sport shall and had the opportunity to meet with old and new friends.

Here you will discover short news of what the players and all the participants experience during the World Games 2009 in Kaohsiung.