PyeongChang Paralympics Organizers Expect Sold-out Crowd for Bronze Medal Hockey Game

The organizers of the PyeongChang Winter Paralympic Games said Thursday they expect a sold-out crowd in the bronze medal ice hockey game featuring South Korea later this week. (Image: Yonhap)

GANGNEUNG, South Korea, March 15 (Korea Bizwire) — The organizers of the PyeongChang Winter Paralympic Games said Thursday they expect a sold-out crowd in the bronze medal ice hockey game featuring South Korea later this week.

South Korea’s ice sledge hockey team will face the loser between the United States and Italy in the game Saturday at Gangneung Hockey Centre in Gangneung, Gangwon Province. The host nation suffered a 7-0 loss to Canada in the semifinals earlier Thursday and failed to reach the gold medal game.

“So far, 6,300 tickets have been sold already,” an official with the PyeongChang 2018 organizing committee said. “We left 400 tickets to be sold on site on game day, but it’s going to be all sold out. We’re planning to sell non-seating tickets as well as seats reserved for media.”

Ice hockey games involving the South Korean national team have been a big hit at this Paralympic Winter Games. South Korea’s first game against Japan had 6,058 spectators, while its second game against the Czech Republic saw 5,211. The game against the United States drew 6,588, and the latest game against Canada was packed with 7,076 spectators, according to the organizers.

Organizers said most of South Korea’s ice hockey game tickets were sold to schools in Gangwon Province so that students could enjoy watching the events as part of their field trips to the Paralympic Games. However, there were no no-shows, making for an energetic stadium atmosphere.

Against Canada, South Korea was helpless on the ice, but the crowd roared with applause, and some were even dancing when they were shown on the screen at the arena. When South Korean first lady Kim Jung-sook visited the arena to root for the South Korean team, the crowd answered by making a loud noise.

When the officials checked the sound level at the arena during the game against Canada, it reached as high as 106.6 decibels, nearly as loud as a performance by a rock band.

(Yonhap)