WORLD UNIVERSITY CHAMPIONSHIPS-DAY 1

WORLD UNIVERSITY CHAMPIONSHIPS-MONDAY, JULY 3, 2006

DAY 1

The team met at JFK airport in New York yesterday with the exception of Han Xiao who flew in from Shanghai, China where he has been training. Shashin Shodhan, Samson Dubina (who was coming because of his sister), Laura Leach, Amanda Dubina, and coach Keith Evans flew in from other places in the US. Pan Lin, Adam Hugh, Katherine Wu drove as they live nearby in New Jersey (Adam and Pan) or Maryland (Katherine). We had an all-night flight from JFK airport that landed in Frankfurt around 5 AM. Some of us got good sleep while some of us did not.

ADAM HUGH (LEFT IN GREEN) AND PAN LIN (SECOND TO RIGHT IN LIGHT BLUE) IN ACTION AT FRANKFURT AIRPORT ON THE FOOSBALL TABLE.

World Cup soccer fever was definitely noticed at the Frankfurt airport as match balls were on display, signs of the World Cup in various locations, seats in the design of a soccer ball, and foosball tables everywhere. Adam and Shashin immediately went to the first foosball table they saw and Shashin schooled Adam and won by a score of 10-2. Side Note: Adam would give a different score and opinion of who dominated. Then the largest foosball table we had seen was on display for people to play on where 5-6 people could easily be on one team on one side and all play at once. The Germans and Adam excelled at this table. Samson, Amanda, Shashin, Katherine, and Pan decided to go to a nearby city to get some food. The taxi ride each way cost about $8/each and we ended up eating at McDonalds which cost between $5 and $10. That was the most expensive McDonald's meal that any of us had eaten as we spent over $20 each if the transportation is counted! Mickey D left us with a poor taste in our mouth! We walked around the city as we had six hours between our landing at Frankfurt and our departure to Austria. We bought some World Cup postcards and just walked and talked around town for some time.

THE US PLAYERS EAT THEIR MOST EXPENSIVE MCDONALD'S MEALS AT A FRANKFURT MCDONALDS.

We then headed to Karz, Austria which was a short flight from Frankfurt. We had a driver pick us up at the Austrain airport and take us on the 1-hour drive to Maribor, Slovenia where the tournament was held. It is safe to say that we saw a lot of greenery on the drive. When we got to Maribor, we saw signs around town advertising the tournament. We then went to our dorm where we would stay this week. The living accomodations were so-so. Adam and Han roomed together and next door, Shashin and Pan roomed together and they had a common bathroom and could easily walk into each other's room without entering any hallway. Amanda and Laura roomed together and Katherine had a room to herself. Coach Keith Evans, who is now the head coach at Texas Wesleyan, roomed with Samson Dubina.

The tournament organizers had allocated a 4 PM to 6 PM time slot for us to practice at the tournament site. We practiced and played some matches and got used to the conditions. Joola was the equipment sponsor for this tournament and the hall was in very good condition with good floors and lighting. Some of the other countries definitely impressed when they warmed up. We went to dinner and then Coach Keith Evans went to the meeting where the draw was made. The US Men's Team will face the top seeds Chinese Taipei as well as Ukraine and Hong Kong. We must finish in the top 2 to advance to the knockout stage. We were the third to lowest seed as only Adam Hugh had a current world ranking. Han and Shashin's previous world rankings were no longer active and not considered. The US Women's Team will face Russia, Slovenia, and the Slovak Republic.

There was an opening ceremony in downtown Maribor with speeches from the important officials. Maribor had a festival going on that week and the opening ceremonies were near where the festival took place. Maribor is trying to win the bid to host the World University Winter Games in 2011.

THE US TEAM WALKING OUT DURING THE OPENING CEREMONIES.