One of the highlights of the World Games so far has been the numerous colorful sets of supporters cheering on their favorite athletes.
Of them all, probably the craziest bunch in Kaohsiung are the Swiss fistball fans.
The fistball addicts, dressed in the red and white of the Swiss national flag, endeared themselves to countless locals during the four-day fistball tournament with their big smiles, friendly nature and catchy chants, ensuring everyone at the stadium enjoyed themselves.
PHOTO: RICHARD HAZELDINE, TAIPEI TIMES
Roman Mattle, 52, from the Swiss town of Frauenfeld, is president of the CFFN, or the National Friends of Fistball Club.
Mattle is a travel agent and uses his professional contacts to organize travel plans for the team, plus any fans who want to follow their fistball heroes around the world. Club members pay 100 Swiss francs (US$94) a year in fees, money that goes to supporting the team.
Speaking over fried noodles and a beer during a break in the fistball action on Sunday, Mattle said last year the club took 96 supporters to a tournament in Namibia.
PHOTO: RICHARD HAZELDINE, TAIPEI TIMES
For the World Games, Mattle organized a 12-day trip for 17 fans and the players that included a few days in Taipei and a sightseeing trip down the east coast to Taroko Gorge and Hualien before arriving in Kaohsiung for the tournament. The group was also due to stop over in Hong Kong on the way back.
And despite the disappointment of seeing their heroes lose in the final, Mattle said the trip was worth it.
“The Taiwanese people are very friendly, helpful. Although we cannot understand one word of the language, we don’t need to. We just need our hands, our faces and our smiles to connect with them,” he said, adding, “We go back to Switzerland and we say Taiwan is one of the best countries outside Europe. We will come back for sure.”
But the Swiss fistball fanatics are not without Taiwanese competition, as anyone who attended a korfball match would know.
For each time the bronze-medal winning korfball team was in action the stands were packed with throngs of noisy, yellow-clad supporters.
Most of them, said Yang Rong-guang, a 26-year-old korfball coach, hail from two schools in Taipei where the sport is popular, Wan Fang Senior High School and Hu Jiang High School.
Talking before Monday’s semi-final against the Netherlands, he said around 75 fans had traveled to Kaohsiung for six days in order to give the Taiwan korfball team some vocal encouragement. Many others came on their own, he said.
And although they failed to inspire the team to victory, there is no doubt the team appreciated their efforts.
Another noisy contingent are the red-shirted fans of Taiwan’s highly successful ladies tug of war team, who bought 140 extremely vocal supporters from Changhua to cheer on the gold-medal winners during Sunday’s competition.
Cheerleading team member Chen Cheng-long said its members are extremely proud of the girls, who hail from the county, and they follow them wherever they compete, including a trip to Italy last year for the world indoor championships.
Cheerleading is of course much easier when your team is as successful as Taiwan’s ladies. But win or lose, the presence of these “fan-atics” has certainly helped to make the World Games a really enjoyable experience.
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
DOMINATION: McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took the first two spots as Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed them Australian Oscar Piastri yesterday roared back from season-opening disappointment in his home race by winning the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two with championship-leading teammate Lando Norris. George Russell finished third for Mercedes, ahead of Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Saturday’s sprint winner Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth respectively. Piastri’s win denied Norris a third victory in a row, including last year’s Abu Dhabi season-ender, but left champions McLaren unbeaten in two races so far this year. “Mega job guys. The car was very, very lovely,” Piastri said
TO FINAL FOUR: France had 22 chances and scored two goals, while Croatia could not manage a single shot on target in 120 minutes. Les Bleus won 5-4 on penalties France on Sunday overturned a two-goal deficit to qualify for the UEFA Nations League Final Four by eliminating Croatia 5-4 on penalties after a 2-0 victory in their quarter-final second leg at the Stade de France. Dayot Upamecano scored the winning spot kick in a nail-biting shootout in which France keeper Mike Maignan made two saves, sending Les Bleus into the semi-finals against Spain. Michael Olise opened the scoring and Ousmane Dembele doubled their lead 10 minutes from time to send the tie into extra time after their 2-0 loss in Split, Croatia, on Thursday. France had a total of
Armand Duplantis will be among the reigning Olympic champions adding star power to the world indoor championships this weekend when the Chinese city of Nanjing hosts the first major global athletics meet since the Paris Games last year. The three-day event was originally slated for 2020 and faced multiple postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Nanjing’s Sports Training Center would finally welcome more than 570 athletes for the start of the showpiece today. One of the main attractions would be pole vaulter “Mondo” Duplantis, who soared 6.27m to break the world record for a staggering 11th time in Clermont-Ferrand last
RSS