"What a thrill": Day 1 at the 1st FAI World Drone Soccer Championship in China
Athletes have arrived, models processed, and the magnificent venue admired... Everything is set for the very first FAI World Drone Soccer Championships in China to start! Teams and judges alike have been wowed by the facilities organised by the hosts, the FAI Member, the Aero Sports Federation of China (ASFC) in collaboration with the Shanghai Science and Technology Sports Management Centre.
FAI Aeromodelling Commission President, Antonis Papadopoulos is attending the event, and commented, "What a thrill to be able to see some many young people dreaming of becoming World Champions."
Their dreams will be played out on a spectacular stage: the large arena in which the cages for the Drone Soccer matches are set up is the Shanghai Stadium, located in Xujiahui Sports Park, Xuhui District in Shanghai. There are rooms for each of the 18 national teams, and top level technology to assist in judging the matches, to display scoring and livestream the matches around the globe.
The arena
Day One: Preparations
During the first day of the event, the registration of the participants took place, as well as the model processing. The drone balls were inspected to comply with the rules and the specifications of the F9 Drones class. Once checked, each was marked with a sticker to facilitate the pre-match checks.
Two subcategories will compete in this inaugural FAI World Championship event: F9A A and F9A B. The rules are the same for both, but the difference is the size of the ball, which is 40cm diametre for the A subclass and 20cm for the B. This means that the motors, batteries and overall weights are different, but the rules of the game are the same for both subcategories.
Two cages are prepared for each class, making four in total, so matches can take place simultaneously. A new electronic event management system will be used and this will assist the officials running the game, and also provide information for the spectators cheering on their teams at the venue, or watching via the livestream.
How to follow the event
