Paris Olympics: table tennis and volleyball (31-07-2024)

 Clicca qui per la versione italiana

Today there was a day planned to be close to home: morning table tennis and afternoon volleyball, both at the Paris Sud Arena (different arenas), according to the guide at one metro stop. In reality I discover that it was not so on the doorstep: arriving at the indicated stop one had to walk almost 2 km, it was closer to walk directly from the hotel. So I arrive at the entrance that it is already 10 o'clock, the start time. The bag checks are also the most thorough, and consequently long, that I have encountered so far: they even examine my umbrella. What's more, my arena is the furthest away in the venue (or rather, its entrance, I will discover on the way out that the other side was much closer): there would also be a treadmill, but it doesn't work, and my sector is the furthest from the entrance. Passing by, Chinese fans are handing out cards cheering for Fan Zhenyong, No. 2 on the scoreboard, who is playing at 12 o'clock. I get into the grandstand and struggle to find my seat and need assistance, as the numbers are on the inside of the seats and when they are occupied they cannot be seen.

 ccupati non si vedono.

As soon as I take a look at the coiurts, I realise that it will not be easy for a neophyte like me to understand them. I had already seen the final of the 2022 European Championships, but as a final, it was a single match, this time there are four of them side by side: you often hear shouts and the problem is to understand which match they are associated with. Even the scores, of course, are not told: there are scoreboards next to each court (but the far one doesn't always read well) and there is a summary one next to my sector, but the courts are not in the order we see them (I later find out that they are in order of court number, and courts 1 and 2 are the middle ones).

 

I am all on one side of the arena, so I can see a match very well, but for the one further away you need binoculars. From closest to farthest for me, the matches are between a Korean and a Hungarian, a Japanese and a Hong Konger, a Chinese and a Swede and a Briton and a Slovenian. At first I think I only look at the one closest to me, but you can't, the shouting from the other courts distracts you too much. Soon I realise that most of the shouting refers to the match between Chinese Wang (who I later find out is the No.1 seed) and Swedish Moregard, who is surprisingly ahead. The Chinese has the support of the many countrymen present, the Swede that of the rest of the audience, not just the Swedes, who are also quite numerous. After all, I too understand that it's the match at a higher level. The British cheer for their player also makes itself felt. The other three matches end almost all at once, although they were one in 4 sets, one in 5 and one in 6: we can concentrate on Wang-Moregard, then won by the Swede in 6 sets. The winner takes a knee and the whole audience applauds him.

Out go the last two players of the first turn, in come those of the second turn. Hardly anyone leaves their seats, so I don't either. Here the most popular match is between the Iranian Alamiyan and the Japanese Morimoto: both have a lot of fans in my block, probably the Iranian more, but those of the Japanese (including my neighbour, who is not Japanese) are very vocal. The Iranian is funny: he has unorthodox strokes and makes great recoveries, but he also makes a lot of mistakes and finds himself down 3-1. In the fifth set he recovers, but ends up losing 4-2. I also try to have a look at the women's seed no. 1, China's Sun, who dominates a Luxembourger also of Chinese origin: 4-0. with only the third set hard-fought. Especially in the breaks of the others, I also take a look at the match furthest away from me, that between the Indian Akula and Zeng from Singapore: the Indian, favourite, finds herself down 2-1, but then wins 4-2. Like many I think, I will instead follow very little the match closest to me, that between Dane Lind and Pole Redzinski, which also, from what we can glimpse, has some very spectacular moments. It will only get attention when, by now in the 7th set, will be the only match remaining; the Dane will win.

Third round of matches, where there is the highlight for most spectators: the Frenchwoman Yuan against a Canadian also of Asian origin. Only now do I realise how the French are still clearly in the majority, despite the strong international presence, especially Chinese. They will support their player not only with the usual 'Allez les bleus' chorus, but also with 'whoever doesn't jump is not French' and during the fourth set, with the game in progress, they will start singing the Marseillaise (after all, this is not tennis...). I too mainly follow the Frenchwoman's match, both because it is the one closest to me and because it is the one that elicits the most reactions from the public, but it is certainly not the most spectacular: monotonous play, diagonals close to the table until someone makes a mistake. There is also Fan, playing against a Hong Kong player, who dominates two sets, loses one and then dominates again: 4-1. I also try to follow the match further away from me, where the Egyptian Meshref resists the no. 3 seed, the Japanese Hayata: it ends 4-0, but three sets are very hard fought, the first one ending 15-13. The most interesting match is the one between the American Jha and the Greek Goumis: the Greek has very peculiar strokes, which look more like tennis than table tennis. He loses the first three sets, however, but then wins two and so their match remains the last. A few Frenchmen left after their player left, but most stayed. It ends 4-2 for the American.

I go back and forth from the hotel, and around 5 p.m. I am back in the area. Incidentally, Arena 1, where the Serbia-United States volleyball match is taking place, is even a little further away than this morning. Had I known beforehand that there was all this way to go, I would have considered staying in the area, but I would have had to bring my PC and then I don't know where I could have settled in. I decided to leave my backpack at the hotel, so at least I'll go in straight away, without any checks. Entering the arena, I feel a chill, as I did this morning, but fortunately in the stands the temperature is more normal. It takes me a moment to find my seat, but for once it is an aisle seat.

 When I get to my seat, the score is 6-4 for the USA. The announcers are explaining the choreography for a great block (‘monster block’), then they explain the choreography for an ace and a grat spike (‘super spike’). The leitmotif of the match will be just that: a lot of choreographies and various entertainments, so much so that the match itself will be lost sight of. The competitive tension will almost only be felt in the fifth set. We will also be asked to move our arms left and right, alone or with the torches of our mobile phones (and almost everyone will obey, including me) and between the third and fourth set there will also be karaoke.

There are many Americans, certainly more than Serbs, but many nationalities are represented, perhaps the most international audience I've seen here (but maybe that's just an impression because the French, not being involved, didn't make themselves heard). At some point they ask us to show the flags, and we see flags from many countries: after the American and the French, perhaps the most present is that of Mexico, certainly more than the Serbian.

In the first set, after a balanced first part, the Americans took a 22-14 lead, partly on their own merit, but much thanks to errors by the opponents, then they closed 25-17. It was a similar story in the second set: Serbia made a few good moves and took the lead, but then began to make mistakes and the Americans took the lead, winning 25-20. In the first two intervals between sets a dancer-contortionist performs. In the third set the level goes way up: out of 45 points, only eight will be due to errors. There are many long and spectacular rallies, Serbia shows what it can do and wins 25.20. When Serbia takes the lead, for the first time the cheering of the Americans can be heard. In the fourth set Serbia's dominance was even clearer, the Americans seemed to not know what to do to stop them: it ended 25-14.

So we arrive at the fifth set which, as I said, is the only one where you can hear the cheering at every point, especially that for the USA, but also that for Serbia, not only of the Serbs: my neighbour supports Serbia, but she speaks English. Even the speaker will ask to cheer for one or the other. In the first half of the set Serbia is almost always ahead, up to 8-5, then the USA come back, overtake on 9-8 and take the lead, with Serbia seemingly unable to defend. They reached 14-11: the crowd was on its feet for the three match points, but Serbia cancelled the first two, and the third was wasted by the Americans with a mess in defence. At the fifth match point, on 16-15, twice the Serbs recovered when it seemed done for the Americans, but in the end they sent out a spike, thus ending 17-15.

On the way out we cross paths with the audience of the following sessions in the different arenas, after dinner I meet a procession of Polish fans. who are going to the next volleyball match, Poland-Kenya.

 Tomorrow another day of walking: golf awaits me.

Paris Olympics: beach volleyball (27-07-2024)

Clicca qui per la versione italiana 

I had chosen as my first event of these Olympics the beach volleyball session starting at 10 p.m. just to have a wide margin to get there: I was supposed to land at 2.30 p.m., so the idea was also to try to see a bit of the road cycling time trial, with Ganna starting at 5.20 p.m. I had a good chance of making it. The reality was different.

 Arriving at the airport, I discover that the flight, compared to my booking (11 months old) has been anticipated and that I have now missed it. I manage to get a seat on the 5.10 p.m. flight with a small supplement: I feared worse. I realise, however, that I will arrive so late that I don't know if it will still be worth going to see the beach volleyball: I decide to try anyway, also considering that the second match is that of the Italian couple Cottafava-Nicolai, opposing the Qatari couple Cherif-Ahmed (before that there is a women's match between two Americans and two Canadians). The plane is not very full, and not many people seem to be going to the Olympics. It also arrives a little late.

 I only manage to catch the RER from the airport at around 8.30 pm, after struggling a bit to understand how the ticket works on my mobile phone (there is no barcode or QR and there is nothing like an image scanner at the turnstiles, but it works anyway). The hotel is in the suburbs, on the opposite side of the airport, by the time I arrive it is already 10pm or almost. Of course I consider going directly to the stadium, but I discard it for two reasons: I would have to leave my luggage somewhere (but I could try Gare du Nord, which is on the way) and I would arrive at the hotel too late. The RER railway passes by the Stade de France, where some French rugby 7 fans, who have just won gold, are getting on (and I see that there are plenty of them waiting to get into the station).

 Eventually I leave the hotel at 10.10pm. To get to the stadium I have to take two lines of transport: I get off at the first of the two suggested stops, then follow the signs, but as it is the Stade Tour Eiffel it should be easy to spot. After a while I start to see the top of the tower, but there is still a long way to go before I am in front of it. I arrive in front of the Eiffel Tower lit up in yellow and with the five rings and there I realise that I am really, finally at the Olympics. Everything beautiful, but the stadium? You can't see it: following the flow, I arrive on the other side of the tower and finally find the entrance to the stadium. Surprise: I am not the only one to enter more than an hour late, there are two others in front of me. After passing through the first gate, with the police checking tickets and backpacks, I realise that I have no clue of where my seat is, I haven't had time to look. Fortunately, my entrance is the first one I encounter: there is another check first of the tickets, then of the backpacks, this time by stewards. It takes me a while to figure out where my sector is, but they are all close by anyway.

I enter that the Italians' game has already started, and they are down 8-4. A time-out is in progress, so I have more time to look for my seat, which in any case is fairly easy to spot: it is the only empty one, at least in the area. You can see everything very well, after all the court is small and the stands are close. Two rows in front of me is a Qatari fan, two rows behind, a couple of Canadians with a maple leaf on their cheek. In the other stands I see a couple of Italian flags, one of Qatar, one American and even one German (Germany is not present in this session). At the first side change I see (they changee every 7 points) there is a human pyramid. At the changes and sometimes even between rallies they put on music, from the Macarena to the Addams Family, and people dance. Even the most beautiful points, especially if by a block (‘great block’) are celebrated with a dance. I struggle to get caught up, I am too tired.

After my arrival the Italians rally and reacd a tie at 12-12. Immediately afterwards, however, they make  a serve fault and lose two more points in a row. The Qataris thus keep the lead until the end: they waste the first set point with a serve fault, but soon after the Italians fault too and it ends 21-19. The second set is more balanced, but above all much more beautiful, with many hard-fought rallies. In the middle part the Italians score some good points, especially with Nicolai, and take the lead, but never more than by one point. The announcer reminds, also for me, that Nicolai is the defending silver medallist. The turning point, however, is a very long and beautiful rally, greeted at the end by a long applause, in which the Qataris took an 18-16 lead. They get to have three match points: the attendance almost all stand up. I would like to avoid it, being so tired, but when the one in front of me stands up I have to do so too. On the second match point our opponents close with a beautiful spike: 21-18.

And so, my first experience in this Olympics, and my second in a summer Olympics, lasted just over half an hour, but it was worth it. It's always worth it.

 As I leave the stadium, I realise that I haven't eaten. There are some kiosks inside the perimeter, but I don't stop because they only sell snacks: at the end I will eat snacks from the vending machines in the metro. On the way out, I find signs for the RER stop next to the one I came from, but I go the other way trying to get back the way I came. It's not easy, because you can't take exactly the same route, and in the end I get lost. The RER is crowded, but not at the level of Rome at rush hour, and anyway it's only one stop, then I switch to the metro, where there are few people.

 

I arrive just before 1am. Tomorrow I have white water canoeing.