This team sure knows how to pep it up before competition. The Thailand sepak takraw team has an innovative way of encouraging itself before key contests — the players exchange notes of encouragement.
Before the match against South Korea, 25-year-old Payom Srihongsa gave a small piece of paper to team-mate Nisa Thanaattawut, which said, “We will be the champions this time and we will trust.”
In reply, Thanaattawut wrote, “Let everyone see our smile as the Games champions when we go home. We can do it!" The messages provided the much-needed boost and they went on to win the match.
On the innovative way of instilling confidence, Srihongsa said, “Although we see and talk to each other everyday, when thoughts are put in writing, they have a different impact.”
Two-time Asian Games gold-medallist, Suebsak Phunsueb, says, “The notes make the girls united and may be it is our secret weapon for winning.”
Yemen distracted
Yemen's beach volleyball player, Adeeb Mahfoudh, has “blamed” the scantily-clad cheerleaders for the team's loss to Indonesia. “They had an effect on how we played,” Mahfoudh was quoted saying in a Guangzhou newspaper. The organisers have hired four cheerleader squads, each comprising eight girls, to keep the fans entertained.
{{/usCountry}}Yemen's beach volleyball player, Adeeb Mahfoudh, has “blamed” the scantily-clad cheerleaders for the team's loss to Indonesia. “They had an effect on how we played,” Mahfoudh was quoted saying in a Guangzhou newspaper. The organisers have hired four cheerleader squads, each comprising eight girls, to keep the fans entertained.
{{/usCountry}}Mobiles, a boon or bane?
A reporter of a local daily would be hoping he had thrown away his mobile phone in the bin before entering the chess venue on Tuesday. It's mandatory for everyone to switch off their phones inside the arena, but the reporter, ill-informed about the rules, walked in without putting his phone on silent mode.
He was ushered out when his phone rang and fined $300 for the indiscretion and not allowed entry again.