Free Sunday show to avoid no-show

Twenty-two thousand tickets had been pre-sold but with a non-returns policy in place, many cut their losses and cancelled their travel plans to the Caribbean.

“We estimated that there would be a large number of tickets not taken up for this match purely because India and Pakistan have not qualified,” Francine Charles, spokeswoman for the local organising committee, told Reuters.

“We also came to this conclusion because we know that quite a few fans — we haven’t got exact numbers — have not taken up their rooms at hotels.

“The first two matches in Barbados, which should have featured India and Pakistan, also gave us an indication as 20,000 tickets were sold for the Australia-Ireland (scheduled to be Australia v Pakistan) match but only 12,000 showed up.”

From 11am local time, locals could turn up at the Kensington Oval and claim their free voucher and be shown to an empty seat. Should the original ticket holder then arrive, stewards were told to shift them to an alternative seat.

Despite the absence of the two Asian powerhouses from the stadium, there were still more Indian flags visible in the stands than Irish or Bangladeshi ones.

Twin sisters Sonia and Vijita Rai are Indian fans but decided to make the most of their $3,974 trip from their home in London to watch the action.

“Obviously we would have preferred to watch India but it’s too late for that now so we are just going to enjoy the matches and the holiday as Barbados is a beautiful place to be, with or without cricket,” Vijita, an accountant, said.

Not all fans were prepared to remain in Barbados without the lure of watching Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and company.

Ajay Vadhi, who runs an ice cream business in the Southern Indian city of Hyderabad, watched England’s victory over Bangladesh earlier in the week but moved on to Miami for five days as he could not bring himself to watch Bangladesh against Ireland.

“We came halfway around the world to watch India against Pakistan as that is what the World Cup is all about,” Vadhi said.

–Richard Sydenham

Party will go on even without Windies, says Dehring

Kingston: WorldCup organisers insisted today that the West Indies’ virtual failure to reach the World Cup semi-finals will not lead to the matches being played out to empty stadia. Sabina Park will stage the first semi-final on April 24 with the second semi-final at Beausejour in St Lucia on April 25. “A high percentage in the number of tickets for the semi-finals have been sold,” World Cup chief executive Chris Dehring told The Sunday Observer. “You’re always going to have fans who have tickets with the hope of supporting their team, but will always be anxious to be there and be a part of history.” (AFP)