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The Boisterous Finns and Shy Italians
Photography and story by Eleanor Jones

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The volleyball venue, Klebelsberg Elementary School gymnasium, was an exciting place to be today. There was a lot of shouting, singing, chanting, clapping, and banging on makeshift drums. There was also plenty of flag waving. What a lively crowd!

All the noise attracted the attention of the children attending the school, so they wandered around the gym, collecting autographs, visiting with the athletes, cheering and waving flags they'd been given.

The Hungarians had the largest contingent, and made their presence known by lots of sing-song chanting. The British supporters had a little dance they did, to the tune of "GeeeeBeeee." The Finns were respectably represented by a group waving little Finnish flags. The Uruguayans chanted "Ur-u-guay!"

But loudest of all were the Italians, with their three-beat chant "I - tal - ia" ("ee-tal-ya"); a very festive bunch!

The final game came down to the Italians' A team and the British B team, and the British supporters got pretty creative: when the Italians chanted "I-tal-ia!" he would call out, in rhythm, "Who are you?" so there was a neat interchange. At the end, the Italians were rewarded with the gold medal.

I spoke with the Finnish team: Rikard Kohomaki, Sixten Finnholm, Esa Tero (whom you saw on TransWeb at the 1999 Winter World Games), Kari Tanninen, Anne Helander (#1 in photo at right) whom I had interviewed in Sydney, at the 1997 World Transplant Games), Saila Sormunen, and captain Seppo Losonen (on phone in photo at right). One of their number, Jerry Kettunen, had injured his ankle in the quarter finals, but with some quick first aid in the form of ice packs, he was able to complete the game. Unfortunately, they lost to the Hungarians, but the fact that all the teams were quite good must have been some consolation.

I asked how they felt about the very loud Hungarian cheering section when they were playing (was it distracting?), and they said that they liked it - it gave them energy, and spurred them to play harder. They also thought the Uruguayans were "pretty feisty." The Finns wished that they had played together more often; they had only played as a team a few times prior to competing here.

When asked what their message to the world about donation would be, they said simply "It works!"

"Do you want to say anything else?"

"No, not really. We Finns are shy people, you know."

 

 

 

 

 
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Old Game Finds New Home
Audio by Robert Garypie
Photography by
Peter Ottlakan
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Interview with Jill Coughran of Australia and Linda Willman of USA

Interview with Reka Babos, manager of the Old Lake Golf Club (today's venue)

The Old Lake Golf Club was the setting for golf at these XII World Transplant Games. Golf is a new concept in Hungary. There are only a handful of courses in the entire country and even at the urging invitation of the Old Lake management, none of the Hungarian athletes participated. This course opened in 1998 with nine holes and the second nine opened this spring. The course is well maintained and has a nice proportion of woods and water. The par 72 course was a bit challenging for novices but held no big surprises. The competitors were invited to play the course a day ahead to familiarize themselves with it.
We spoke with a number of players who were generally pleased with their performance. The biggest complaint was the ever-present buzz and bite of a particularly tiny variety of carniverous mosquito. In the clubhouse, we spoke with the course manager and a few competitors. Interestingly, two of the only three double lung recipients competing in Budapest were paired together. Medals were awarded in two categories based on scratch play and Stableford scoring. 36 competitors went out on this cloudy morning and were able to finish eighteen holes before the threat of rain ever materialized. If golf is new to Hungary, it wasn't apparent as this international event took shape and found its place in annals of the XII World Transplant Games.
   
                          
   
 
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Tennis Competition
Story and photography by Douglas Armstrong
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The tennis competition was set in the middle of wooded public park. The park was deep in the center of Pest. The buses stopped in the middle of a dead end road that was surrounded completely by tall trees. A small dirt footpath led 500 meters back into the woods and emerged at the public tennis courts. There were thirteen red clay courts totally secluded from the surrounding industrial neighborhood by the trees.
The weather was overcast and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. A light mist fell around noon but soon passed. The courts were in good condition. Participants played eight game preliminary matches. The first player to win eight games (must win by two games with a 15 point tiebreaker played at 8 games apiece) was declared the winner and moved on to the semi-finals. The semi-finalists and finalists played three set matches. The first player to win two six game sets (with a two game margin and a tiebreaker at 6 games apiece) advanced. Losers in the semi-finals were given bronze medals as there were no consolation matches.

The courts were groomed and "watered" between matches to control the dust and speed of play. Singles and doubles preliminary matches were played on Wednesday with most of the semi-final and final matches scheduled for Thursday. Various international flags were hung on bushes and fences and moved from court to court. Supporting fans and teammates followed the flags to cheer their favorites. Long volleys, hard serves and pounding net shots kept heads turning from one side of the net to the other. The matches were carefully officiated from elevated chairs beside the net.

The fast paced action is sure to continue into the semi-final and final matches on Thursday.

   

 
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Last modified: 6 June, 2000