Today was the first day when it was raining the whole day. Not hard, but enough for it to be annoying to stand outside. 😀
And it turns out that all press is made of sugar. 😀 There was no one at the tribunes. OK, only at the Italy vs Brazil men game, then about 10 journalists decided to fight the rain and go watch the game.
It took a while also to get permission to enter the press tribunes. It was due to a mystery bag left there. Bomb group was called in and before they could investigate they found the owner of the bag. 😀 So, no bomb this time.
Games today
Australia vs Holland women (Australia won 2:1) – Very close and exciting game. The team that first gets to 21 points wins the set. But there has to be 2 points in between the two opponents. These teams were so close that the first set ended with 27:25. 😀 It was also the game for who wins the category.
Spain vs USA men (Spain won 2:1) – And here we started with the fight and dramatic game. Once again a very exciting and close game. At least until the USA team thought that Spain made a mistake but the referees didn’t agree. They refused to accept it and refused to give up the ball to continue the game. The crowd started booing and it went on until one of the USA players got a yellow card. The game for them went downhill from there. One of the USA players also got mad at the crowd and told them off to the cameras. After the match he just left, didn’t shake hands with the opponents or referees. He was really mad.
Qatar vs Austria men (Qatar won 2:1) – Another exciting game where Austria was the clear favorite. It did not go well for them. Qatar played very well and won. There was a lot of Qatar fans in the crowd.
China vs Australia women (China won 2:0) – Not too exciting. As there wasn’t any press either, I went to lunch. 😀
Italy vs Brazil men (Brazil won 2:0) – Very close and very exciting game. Even journalists dared to come out. One of the Brazilian players landed badly and hurt his ankle in the start of the game. They took a medical break. I was about to think that it was a short game 😀 but he continued. They played very well until Brazil made a mistake that the referees didn’t count. Italians were furious. It cost them the set. One Italian player commented also later that they weren’t heard. There was nothing to do. But great game.
After the Italy vs Brazil game
I had the chance to see what goes on in the mixed zone. This is the area where press meets the athletes for the first time after the match. It was really exciting! I saw the Italian and Brazilian player up close. Also how the area is divided up: first broadcasters, then big media agencies (written press, no filming) and then other journalists (written press, no filming). Really cool, to see how the athlete goes from one point to another. It can really take a long time to go through this corridor if you win the game. 😀 Losers usually take less time. 😀
I will also get Estonian pins from another Estonian volunteer tomorrow. Turns out that he also works at the Beach volleyball arena. 😀 Only he has the green outfit – he helps spectators and shows where to sit.
