As well as look around the old city, Master D, Mark B & I also called down to the Plaza Hotel where they have the "welcome centre".
Master Tran, his two daughters, Mr Kurt Otterson and others welcomed us and we received a packet of bits - tournament program (featuring Carl van Roon), tickets to the various functions etc.
Umpires have food & accommodation paid for 8 days which is more than we were expectng. They have 70 umpires registered for the tournament.
We ran into a few old friends including Master Lan from Germany and Andrew Niven. Germany have a big team here (close to 40 competitors I think).
Apparently around 6 countries could not get visas including Russia, but still there are over 60 countries here. Master CK Choi is here as special guest. He is one of the original masters - some say the best ever. He graded me to 2nd dan in '81 and I have not seen him since... Will be great to meet him!
Day 2 for us started with breakfast and news of the team's late arrival. No doubt they will have a long day ahead as they work through the tournament registration process. We are off on a cup tour this morning then will try and catch up with the team later.
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