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

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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.

Olimpiadi di Parigi: tennis tavolo e pallavolo (31-07-2024)

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 Oggi era prevista una giornata sotto casa: mattina tennis tavolo e pomeriggio pallavolo, entrambi all'Arena Paris Sud (palazzetti diversi), secondo la guida a una fermata di metro. In realtà scopro che non era così sotto casa: arrivati alla fermata indicata bisognava camminare per quasi 2 km, era più vicino arrivare a piedi direttamente dall'albergo. Arrivo quindi all'ingresso che sono già le 10, l'orario di inizio. Anche i controlli delle borse sono i più accurati, e di conseguenza lunghi, che abbia incontrato finora: mi esaminano anche l'ombrello. Per di più il mio palazzetto è il più lontano del complesso (o meglio, il suo ingresso, scoprirò all'uscita che l'altro lato era molto più vicino): ci sarebbe anche un tapis roulant, ma non funziona, e il mio settore è il più lontano dall'ingresso. Di passaggio, tifosi cinesi distribuiscono cartoncini che inneggiano a Fan Zhenyong, n. 2 del tabellone, impegnato alle 12. Salito in tribuna fatico anche a trovare il mio posto e ho bisogno d'assistenza, in quanto i numeri sono sull'interno dei seggiolini e quando sono occupati non si vedono.

Appena do un'occhiata ai campi, mi rendo conto che per un neofita come me non sarà facile capirci qualcosa. Avevo già visto la finale degli Europei 2022 , ma in quanto finale, era una partita singola, stavolta ce ne sono quattro affiancate: si sentono spesso urla e il problema è capire a quale incontro sono associate. Anche i punteggi, naturalmente, non vengono detti: ci sono i tabelloni accanto ad a ogni campo (ma quello lontano non sempre si legge bene) e ce n'è uno riepilogativo vicino al mio settore, ma i campi non sono nell'ordine in cui si trovano (scoprirò poi che sono in ordine di numero di campo, e campi 1 e 2 sono quelli centrali).

Sono tutto da un lato, quindi vedo molto bene un incontro, ma per quello più lontano ci vuole un binocolo. Dal più vicino al più lontano per me gli incontri sono tra una coreana e un'ungherese, una giapponese e una di Hong Kong, un cinese e uno svedese e un britannico e uno sloveno. All'inizio penso di guardare solo quello più vicino a me, ma non si può, le urla dagli altri campi ti distraggono troppo. Presto capirò che la maggior parte delle urla si riferiscono all'incontro tra il cinese Wang (che scoprirò poi essere la testa di serie n.1) e lo svedese Moregard, sorprendentemente in vantaggio. Il cinese ha il sostegno dei numerosi connazionali presenti, lo svedese quello del resto del pubblico, non solo degli svedesi, anch'essi piuttosto numerosi. Del resto, anch'io capisco che è quello di livello più alto. Anche il tifo dei britannici per il loro giocatore si fa sentire. Gli altri tre incontri finiscono quasi tutti assieme, nonostante fossero uno i 4 set, uno in 5 uno in 6: ci si può concentrare su Wang-Moregard, vinto poi dallo svedese in 6 set. Il vincitore si inginocchia e tutto il pubblico lo applaude.

Usciti gli ultimi due giocatori della prima tornata, entrano subito quelli della seconda tornata. Quasi nessuno lascia il posto, quindi neanch'io lo faccio per non dovermi fare largo. Qui l'incontro più seguito sarà quello tra l'iraniano Alamiyan e il giapponese Morimoto: entrambi hanno molti fan nel mio settore, probabilmente l'iraniano di più, ma quelli del giapponese (tra cui il mio vicino, che non è giapponese) si fanno molto sentire. L'iraniano è divertente: ha colpi poco ortodossi e fa grandi recuperi, ma sbaglia anche molto e si ritrova sotto 3-1. Nel quinto set si riprende, ma finisce col perdere 4-2. Cerco di dare un'occhiata anche alla n.1 del mondo, la cinese Sun, che domina una lussemburghese anche lei di origine cinese: 4-0. con solo il terzo set combattuto. Soprattutto nelle pause degli altri, do un'occhiata anche all'incontro più lontano da me, quello tra l'indiana Akula e Zeng di Singapore: l'indiana, favorita, si trova sotto 2-1, ma poi vince 4-2. Come penso molti, seguirò invece poco l'incontro più vicino a me, quello tra il danese Lind e il polacco Redzinski, che pure, da quello che si intravede, ha tratti molto spettacolari. Otterrà attenzioni solo quando, ormai al 7° set, rimarrà l'unico incontro; vincerà il danese

Terza tornata di incontri, dove c'è il clou per la maggior parte degli spettatori: la francese Yuan contro una canadese anch'essa di origine asiatica. Solo adesso mi rendo conto di come i francesi siano ancora nettamente in maggioranza, nonostante la forte presenza internazionale, soprattutto cinese. Sosterranno la loro giocatrice, oltre che col solito coro "Allez les bleus", anche con "chi non salta non è francese" e durante il quarto set, col gioco in corso, si metteranno a cantare la Marsigliese (del resto, non siamo mica al tennis...). Anch'io seguo soprattutto l'incontro della francese, sia perché è il più vicino a me, sia perché è quello che suscita più reazioni del pubblico, ma non è certo il più spettacolare: gioco monocorde, diagonali vicino al tavolo fino a quando qualcuna non sbaglia. C'è anche Fan, impegnato contro uno di Hong Kong, che domina due set, ne perde uno e poi torna a dominare: 4-1. Cerco di seguire anche l'incontro più lontano da me, dove l'egiziana Meshref resiste alla testa di serie n.3, la giapponese Hayata: finisce 4-0, ma tre set sono molto combattuti, il primo finisce 15-13. L'incontro più interessante è quello tra l'americano Jha e il greco Goumis: il greco ha dei colpi molto particolari, che sembrano più da tennis che da tennis tavolo. Perde però i primi tre set, ma poi ne vince due e così la loro partita rimane l'ultima. Alcuni francese se ne sono andati dopo l'uscita della loro giocatrice, ma la maggior parte sono rimasti. Finisce 4-2 per l'americano.

Faccio avanti e indietro dall'albergo, e verso le 17 sono di nuovo in zona. Peraltro, l'arena 1, dove si svolge l'incontro di pallavolo Serbia-Stati Uniti, e anche un po' più lontana di quella di stamattina. A sapere prima che c'era tutta questa strada da fare avrei considerato di fermarmi in zona, ma avrei dovuto portarmi il PC e poi non so dove avrei potuto sistemarmi. Ho deciso di lasciare in albergo lo zaino, quindi almeno entro subito, senza controlli. Entrati nel palazzetto, sento un gelo, come già stamattina, ma per fortuna in tribuna la temperatura è più normale. Ci metto un attimo a trovare il mio posto, ma una volta tanto è un posto di corridoio.

Quando arrivo al mio posto, il punteggio è 6-4 per gli USA. Gli speaker stanno spiegando la coreografia da fare in caso di un bel muro ("monster block"), poi spiegheranno quella per l'ace e per una bella schiacciata ("super spike"). Il leit-motiv della partita sarà proprio questo: tante coreografie e intrattenimenti vari, tanto da far perdere di vista la partita in sé. La tensione agonistica si sentirà quasi solo nel quinto set. Ci verrà chiesto anche di muovere le braccia a destra e a sinistra, da sole o con le torce dei telefonini (e quasi tutti obbediranno, me compreso) e tra il terzo e il quarto set ci sarà anche un karaoke.

Ci sono molti americani, sicuramente molto più che serbi, ma sono rappresentate tante nazionalità, forse è il pubblico più internazionale che abbia visto qui (ma magari è un'impressione per via del fatto che i francesi, non essendo coinvolti, non si facevano sentire). A un certo punto ci chiederanno di mostrare le bandiere, e se ne vedranno di tantissimi paesi: dopo l'americana e la francese, forse la più presente è quella del Messico, sicuramente più della serba.

Nel primo set, dopo una prima parte equilibrata, le americane si portano sul 22-14, un po' per merito loro, ma molto grazie a errori delle avversarie, poi chiudono 25-17. Andamento simile nel secondo set: la Serbia fa alcune belle azioni e si porta in vantaggio, ma poi comincia a sbagliare e le americane prendono il largo vincendo 25-20. Nei primi due intervalli tra un set e l'altro si esibisce un ballerino-contorsionista. Nel terzo set il livello sale di molto: su 45 punti, solo 8 saranno dovuti a errori. Si vedono molti scambi lunghi e spettacolari, la Serbia mostra quello che sa fare e vince 25-20. Quando la Serbia prende il largo, per la prima volta si sente il tifo degli americani. Nel quarto set la prevalenza della Serbia è ancora più netta, le americane sembrano non sapere cosa fare per fermarle: finisce 25-14.

Si arriva così al quinto set che, come dicevo, è l'unico dove si sente il tifo a ogni punto, soprattutto quello per gli USA, ma anche quello per la Serbia, non solo dei serbi: anche la mia vicina sostiene la Serbia, ma parla inglese. Anche lo speaker inciterà a sostenere le une o le altre. Nella prima metà del set la Serbia è quasi sempre in vantaggio, fino a 8-5, poi gli USA rimontano, fanno il sorpasso sul 9-8 e prendono il largo, con la Serbia che sembra non essere più in grado di difendere. Arrivano al 14-11: pubblico tutti in piedi per i tre match point, ma i primi due li annullerà la Serbia, il terzo lo sprecheranno le americane con un pasticcio in difesa. Al quinto match point, sul 16-15, per due volte le serbe recuperano quando sembra fatta per le americane, ma alla fine tirano una schiacciata fuori, Finisce quindi 17-15.

All'uscita ci si incrocia con il pubblico delle sessioni successive nei vari palazzetti, dopo cena incontrerò un corteo di tifosi polacchi. che vanno alla partita di pallavolo successiva, Polonia-Kenia.

Domani altro giorno di camminate: mi aspetta il golf.

Paris Olympics: rowing and swimming (30-07-2024)

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And the day finally came, for the first time in my life I saw an Italian win a medal at the Olympics. 12 years ago, in London, I had seen the medal being prepared and the certainty of winning at least silver, but I had not seen the final. Thank you, Greg Paltrinieri, even though for a moment we hoped it would be even better, it is another medal that enriches a fantastic career.

 

But let's start from the beginning. The day had started early (way too early) with the rowing session. I arrive at the shuttle station around 9.15, by which time it was clear that I would see it begun (start was at 9.30). There are, however, a few people arriving at this time. Among them are the relatives of Nicolas Kohl, of the Italian four, whom I meet on the shuttle: in all my stay in Paris so far, I had never seen so many Italians together. When the shuttle arrives, there's still a long way to go (I'll measure it on the way back: it's about 1250 metres): when I had been to see whitewater canoeing, I had seen that the flat water basin was further away, but I didn't think it was that far.

 

I go in at almost 10 o'clock and it is already very hot, I look at where my seat is and discover... that I don't have a seat: they are standing places! I go back to wondering why I was doing that, after I had already done it when I got up. The fourth quarter-final of the women's sculls is under way: I settle in the first place I find, towards the 1500 m buoy, waiting for them to pass. Finished, I make to move away, but I see that the first quarter-final of the men's sculls is already about to start. The races are practically ontinuous: the starts are every 10 minutes, which means that between the arrival of one and the start of the next there are about 3 minutes, but they are not noticeable: having proclaimed the official result of one race, they begin the presentation of the next.

I go a few metres further towards the start, and from there I see the first two quarters of the sculls, I notice that the period when the boats are in sight is about 2 minutes. Then I really have to go for a drink and to the toilet. On the way back, I look for better accommodation: I find a less crowded place, where I can also sit when the boats are far away. However, it has the disadvantage of being far from the screens, so most of the time you have to rely on the speaker to find out the placings. From this position the boats are visible from just before the halfway point until almost the finish, but the stretch where the perspective allows you to understand the placings is much shorter, no more than 250-300 metres. Around me only French, further on a Dutch family: after the locals, the nationalities most present are Dutch and Danish.

We arrive at the first competition for both us and the French: the first semi-final of the women's doubles. The French are thrilled with their crew, which is always in a qualifying position (top three) and at times seems to be able to attack for first place. They celebrate qualification with ‘who doesn't jump is not French’ (it will be heard again tonight at swimming). Italy remains last all the time and even loses contact with the penultimate in the final. After the semifinals of the men's doubles, with France failing to qualify and Italy absent, the French around me leave and so I can advance almost to the first row. I see the recoveries of the four, first women's (without Italy) and then men's, where we take revenge on France: Italy is in the lead the whole time, after it has passed me it seems that Romania and France are catching up with it, but it's perspective, in reality we are firmly in the lead and we win over Romania and France, which therefore remains out (two were passing).

Once the races are over, it's back to the start of the shuttle,s in a devastating heat. The queue for the shuttles is long, but it is over in a quarter of an hour: I confirm that it is the most efficient shuttle service I have ever seen.

In the early afternoon I visit the Parc des Nations, the village that hosts the ‘houses’ of different countries. I visited those of Colombia and Mexico, among the few with free entry, i.e., requiring neither payment nor registration. A good experience, a pity I didn't have more time.

And we come to the evening session, with swimming. I arrive at La Defense with a good margin, almost an hour, but 10 minutes pass to get from the metro station to the arena and just as many in the queue at the gates. I am however inside the arena just before 8pm, so I decide to get some food. It doesn't turn out to be a good idea: we don't understand each other and instead of the curry toast I had ordered I get two beers. When I manage to get the toast, I discover that I don't like it and throw it away.

Eventually the margin is almost over, I arrive at my front door with 10 minutes to go. I open the door and find myself in front of the pool, very close, only a few steps down. I can't actually see much because they are playing a light game, but when the lights come on I can see better how close it is, and I remain so even as I climb up to my seat. The seats next to me are already occupied, but in the row there are a few vacant ones left, then they will fill up, but in other blocks there will be a few empties, although I think the block with the most empties was the athletes' sector. Next to me, on one side are French, on the other some Asians, who when they announce their athlete (in the 200 butterfly) I discover are from Taiwan. In my row there are also Chinese from the People's Republic and even Colombians (Colombia was not represented). In the front row, Americans and British, around, Australians and, it will be seen in the 800 sl, also many Irish. In the front rows there were also many Italians.

Already when they announce the participants in the first race, you can see that, after the French, the most numerous are Americans and British, but there are also numerous Australians and, as I said, Irish, When they announce Noè Ponti you can see that there is also a good representation of Swiss. The Chinese are also more than yesterday in archery (I went to see the team archery yesterday, but due to technical problems with my PC I couldn't write about it). Among the countries with a swimming tradition, Hungary, Canada and Sweden are underrepresented. The former I think is even the only country represented, apart from Kyrgyzstan, whose flag I did not see: I also saw one from the Philippines and a small group from Iceland. But the strongest cheer is always for home athletes: the French are especially excited about Marchand, the 400 metres mixed champion, who competes first in the 200 butterfly, winning the semi-final and reaching the final with the second fastest time, and then also in the 200 breaststroke (and the first time I have ever seen one compete in the breaststroke and another style), where he will set the best time. In the breaststroke they will also mark the rhythm of his every stroke. Sometimes the enthusiasm (not only of the French) is such that it is hard to get silence for the start.

I soon realise that my position, behind the pool on the start side, is excellent for watching the swimmers' arrival, their preparation and the start (I will later discover that it allows me to see them very closely, after the race, because they have to pass by the table right in front of my block to get the pass for the mixed zone), but it does not allow me much to understand how the race is going, especially in the sprint races, where the gaps are smaller, except a little at the touch. In fact, in the first race, the semi-finals of the 100 fs, I didn't understand much about how Miressi was going, who was out of the final by 1/100. In the second, the 200 butterfly, it goes better: in the second semi-final I see Malek take off. We get to the first final, the women's 100 backstroke, where looking through binoculars I notice that the Australian McKeown is the first to touch.

And we come to Paltrinieri's race. After the first 100, where they're all close together and you can't understand anything, I realise that he's behind the two in the lanes next to him, the Irish Wiffen and the American Finke, but at the 400 I see that he's come closer, and in fact he's moved up from sixth to fourth place. At the 450 he is still behind Finke and Wiffen, but ahead of everyone else, at the 500 he is second, at the 600 he is in the lead and at the 700 he has a good margin. In the penultimate length, however, first Wiffen and then Finke start to catch up. In the last pool my sector is almost all standing and you can hear the Irish cheering a lot. In the end they are the ones celebrating and Paltrinieri is third: great race anyway.

The victory ceremony for the 100 backstroke follows: the podium is on the side opposite mine, while on my side flags are raised on flagpoles being lowered from the ceiling. The Australian anthem plays, which to an Italian ear reminds one of an old mountain song in the attack, and no one can be heard singing it, even though there are many Australians present (the lyrics exist, I checked). Instead, when the Irish anthem plays, I hear it sung rather loudly behind me. The break coincided with the epee final, so I was able to read about Italy's gold and thus the Fiamingo-Paltrinieri couple's double medal.

After the seimifinals of the women's 100 sl and men's 200 breaststroke, we close with the final of the 4X200, which i wth 9 teams because of a tie in the heats. There was great involvement of the public, almost all of whom were on their feet, since, after an attempt by Germany at the start, it soon resolves itself into a three-way battle between the countries most represented in the attendance after France: Great Britain, the USA and Australia. In the end it's the British who celebrate.

Once the relay is over, there would still be a victory ceremony, but many are heading for the exit. I decide to do it too, as I have to have dinner, go back to the hotel and write, but no one in my row does, so I have to make way.

 Another fantastic experience in a beautiful venue and with one of the most international attendances of the Olympics, Tomorrow table tennis and volleyball, in the venue next to the hotel.