Yep, the goal is to make a quick KO, better for Simon vs Ovidiu in the 3rd match.
I drove three hours to watch the semis yesterday. Saw hundreds of familiar faces at the venue. But that's just the thing, practically everyone in those stands (including myself and the gang from my club) was either a player, a coach or a club official who got in for free. I don't think a single local bought an actual ticket for this event. Croatian people (the civilians, I mean) just don't care about table tennis any more, and I think both the media and the HSTS-CTTU are to blame.
This is normal with TT. Would be interestjng to know why you expect that much different. The sport is just hard to enjoy if you are not in it as a player.
I'm old enough to remember better days. It wasn't always like this.
Fact is the FFTT opens the tickets sale to ALL the french clubs first when a competition is organized on the french soil, you can add to it the chinese diaspora in France that is massive for international level competitions, and you get that atmosphere with a lot of young kids. There are some discounts for the FFTT's clubs members.
