Millions of hits and phone calls overwhelm system. Organisers are criticised for failing to estimate demand and for their murky sale methods.

Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The launch of the second domestic series of Beijing Olympic tickets was chaotic yesterday as the Games’ computerised booking system collapsed under an overwhelming number of phone, online and retail outlet orders.

Rong Jun, head of the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games' ticketing agency, apologised for the glitch, admitting that his team had underestimated demand for internet bookings.

Yet in an interview with the organising body's official website over the weekend, Mr Rong had said that BOCOG “was well prepared” and had carried out several "pressure tests" that would ensure the online ticketing centre's capacity to handle the expected wave of ticket applications.

Yet everything went wrong. The mayhem left hundreds of buyers frustrated, including queues of enthusiasts who rose early to secure a place outside the 1,001 designated Bank of China branches across the country for the tickets. Millions of online bookings were blocked and will resume next Monday.

In the first hour after its 9 am launch, the ticketing website registered 8 million hits, and 2 million telephone requests were lodged, organisers said. They had estimated the site would have to handle up to 1 million hits and 30,000 applications per hour.

Given their failure to estimate demand, many wonder whether BOCOG is up to the task.

Criticism has also been voiced about how tickets are being sold. Organisers said they had allocated 1.6 million tickets—including all 26,000 to the highly sought-after opening and closing ceremonies available to the mainland public—through a computerised lottery.

Buyers applied for the lottery between April 15 and June 30, which was eventually held on an undisclosed date. And even though BOCOG had promised a "fair and open" process it provided no details about the lottery publicly.

There are a little more than 7 million tickets for sale for the Beijing Olympic Games. Up to 75 per cent of that total is set aside for mainland buyers.

The second sale will last until the end of January. The rest of the tickets will go on sale in April with tickets delivered in June and July.

• china
• beijing
• olympics
• ticket
• sales
• computer
• glitch