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| Olympics ticket sales suspended | Olympics ticket sales suspended |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| Organisers of the 2008 Beijing Olympics have suspended ticket sales until Monday, after their booking system crashed due to high demand on Tuesday. | Organisers of the 2008 Beijing Olympics have suspended ticket sales until Monday, after their booking system crashed due to high demand on Tuesday. |
| In a statement, the organising committee apologised, saying the ticket centre had underestimated demand. | In a statement, the organising committee apologised, saying the ticket centre had underestimated demand. |
| In the first hour after sales opened, the ticket website received more than 200,000 ticket requests per second. | In the first hour after sales opened, the ticket website received more than 200,000 ticket requests per second. |
| Customers eager to buy the first-come, first-served tickets also jammed phone lines and queued at designated banks. | Customers eager to buy the first-come, first-served tickets also jammed phone lines and queued at designated banks. |
| A lottery in June allocated the first round of 1.6m tickets to be made available for next year's games. | A lottery in June allocated the first round of 1.6m tickets to be made available for next year's games. |
| But the opening of this second round, in which 1.8m are up for grabs, has now been suspended until Monday for technical work to the ticket sales system. | But the opening of this second round, in which 1.8m are up for grabs, has now been suspended until Monday for technical work to the ticket sales system. |
| 'Preparation flawed' | 'Preparation flawed' |
| "We sincerely apologise to the public," said the organising committee in a statement. | |
| China would like to stage the "perfect" Olympic Games | China would like to stage the "perfect" Olympic Games |
| "Demand was much higher than the ticket centre estimated and flaws existed in preparation work that caused inconveniences for applicants," the statement said. | "Demand was much higher than the ticket centre estimated and flaws existed in preparation work that caused inconveniences for applicants," the statement said. |
| The ticketing website received more than 8m visits in the first hour, while at least 2m people called the telephone hotline. | The ticketing website received more than 8m visits in the first hour, while at least 2m people called the telephone hotline. |
| Huge queues formed outside designated Bank of China branches, with some customers starting to queue hours before the branches opened. | Huge queues formed outside designated Bank of China branches, with some customers starting to queue hours before the branches opened. |
| But only 9,000 tickets were reported to have been sold in the first two hours. | But only 9,000 tickets were reported to have been sold in the first two hours. |
| Patriotic | Patriotic |
| China will eventually sell about 7m tickets to the games in three phases, with about three-quarters going to residents of China and the rest to overseas buyers. | China will eventually sell about 7m tickets to the games in three phases, with about three-quarters going to residents of China and the rest to overseas buyers. |
| China wants to stage the perfect Olympic Games and would like every seat filled with cheering, patriotic supporters, say correspondents. | China wants to stage the perfect Olympic Games and would like every seat filled with cheering, patriotic supporters, say correspondents. |
| Organisers warned that people hoping to see the most popular events, including gymnastics, table tennis and the opening and closing ceremonies, may be disappointed. | Organisers warned that people hoping to see the most popular events, including gymnastics, table tennis and the opening and closing ceremonies, may be disappointed. |