Sunday —April 4th— was intended to be a rest day for the American team, but nineteen year old Glenn Cowan, typically, was restless. So he went to the practice venue and volleyed for a while with Trevor Taylor, one of the stars of the British team. When the facility manager said that he wanted to close up, Glenn went outside to look for a ride back to the main hall. He spotted a shuttle bus with the logo of the event —the 31st Table Tennis World Championships in Nagoya, Japan— decorating its side, and flagged it down.
The first thing he could see was that the bus was full, so he decided to stand by the door for the short ride. The next thing he noticed was that his arrival had been greeted with stunned surprise and silence. The third thing he realized, taking in the faces and the team insignias, was that he had boarded the Chinese team's bus.
By this time, Glenn Cowan was used to his appearance causing a stir even with his western colleagues. He cut a consciously colorful swath almost everywhere he went — and not least amidst the Brooks Brothers catalog-like couture of his American teammates. One team official noted Glenn's penchant for wearing “a purple passion shirt” with tie-dye leopard-like pants, and described his long “Dartagnan-like” hair and the wide-brimmed floppy hat he favored. Ever since their arrival for the competition at the busy port city of Nagoya, Glenn had attracted curious and admiring crowds.
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