Perth,
Monday Morning
Opening ceremonies were held at the Perth Soccer Field
yesterday. One player from each country held their country’s flag and the rest
of the players were in the stands and stood when their country was announced.
There were speeches and unfortunately the microphone broke, but the speakers
did a good job of moving closer to the crowd and speaking up. A big cheer went
up when host nation Australia
was announced. Margaret Robinson from the Australia
Queens’ Cup team and the defending 75+ world champion held the flag of her
country; Carol Clay of Fort Lauderdale held the
flag for the USA.
Carol Wood did an excellent job of taking photos of the US players and
teams and I hope to post some in the next day.
After the ceremonies there was a cocktail party with heavy
appetizers and drinks. It was crowded but congenial.
The seeds were announced and the draws made yesterday. USA
is seeded #1 in the men’s 70, 75 and women’s 75; they are seeded #2 in the
Men’s 80s; seeded #3 in the women’s 60s and men’s 60s; and I haven’t talked to
the men’s 65, women’s 65 and women’s 70s captains yet.
The men’s 80s are in a RR group of 3 and play Great Britain
today. Defending champion Australia
is seeded 1 and France, a strong team, is in their group. There are 7 teams in
their Cup. The winner of their RR group will play the #2 team from the other
group and vice versa in the knockout portion of the competition.
The men’s 75 are also in a RR group of 3. There are 9 teams
in their cup and the winner of each RR group will play in a second RR starting
Thursday.
The women’s 75s have 7 teams. The USA is in a group of 4 teams, and will play
Monday-Wednesday with Thursday being an off day.
The weather was extremely windy on Sunday and rain is
forecast for Wed/Thursday…hopefully it will pass by and not rain!
Yesterday I walked down to the riverfront where boats leave
to go to Freemantle and other spots for tours. The Swan River
is huge, very wide and yesterday it was very choppy, I was happy I was not on a
boat yesterday. There’s a nice walkway along the river for runners, walkers and
bikers.