On Thursday evening we got disturbing news from our American friends. There were problems with the take-off from New York. Fog, blizzard, wind. John and Todd Hutchings were sitting and waiting, but not idly. John already informed us that he was looking for some other link, even via Singapore. Today, i.e. on Friday 3 pm Polish time, we know that John Brzenk and Todd Hutchings are to land in Warsaw late in the evening.

At the press conference there was our representative Marlena Wawrzyniak, motivated, smiling and ready for the competition. It's a good year for Marlena and we are all keeping our fingers crossed for her success.

Neil Pickup, our irreplaceable announcer ... had clearly a black eye and tried to explain to reporters that he got it while playing football. Let's face it few people believed him. Tim Bresnan, who
knows what's what slightly shaking his head couldn't believe in the cause of a livid spot under Neil's eye.

But the important thing is that Bresnan is a competitor who'll try to break through to the semi-finals and is an incomparable Master of Ceremony during the evening semi-final and the final fights.

Tim Bresnan came, as he says, extremely well-prepared and is counting on the victory in the +95 kg class and a good place in the open class.

We are happy to welcome Terence Opperman, whose arrival wasn't certain. Fortunately, he's already in place. In the initial period of preparation, Terence got down his weight to fit into the 95 kg class. But when it turned out that he might not manage to come, he gave up the diet. Now he weighs about 107 kg which isn't "good" weight. Too much for a lower class, and perhaps not enough to compete with the competitors well over 120 and 130 kg.

But Terence has an optimistic attitude and sees himself in the top four of the open class.

Tomorrow everything will become clear. Today, the weighing ceremony in front of us. All the teams, in total over 150 competitors, are already in Warsaw. We are all keeping our fingers crossed for John and Todd's successful journey.

More information about 9 pm Polish time.