Organisers of Games go through a 'dry' run

HYDERABAD: An SOS on Monday from Abuja where the All Africa Games are now in progress sent the Afro-Asian Games organisers scurrying.
The message was that the first batch of athletes from Africa would be arriving on Wednesday morning.
This caught the organisers totally off guard; they had been expecting the first arrivals not earlier than Sunday.
An emergency meeting was called and instructions were flashed to all committees which were given a 36-hour deadline to get everything ready for the reception.
Hotel reservations were advanced, vehicles requisitioned for transporting athletes from airport to hotel, and security details were planned with the police.
Painting of signboards in French, Swahili and other African languages was completed and orders for bouquets placed.
By Tuesday evening the committees were in full harness to receive the athletes to the first-ever Afro-Asian Games.
Then came the dampener.
The athletes'' flight was rescheduled to Sunday after they suddenly decided to watch the Abuja Games instead of sitting in a hotel room in Hyderabad twiddling their thumbs.
Soon enough, a spin doctor came up with the idea that the scurry had been worth it after all; it served as a dry run and tested the preparedness of the organisers.