Panda prophets: first giant Chinese bears in Middle East turn World Cup soccer stars by ‘predicting’ winners and losers
- Giant pandas, Thuraya and Suhail, follow in footsteps of Paul the predicting Octopus who rose to fame during the 2010 World Cup
- Pair of bears have already ‘guessed’ the unexpected winners of two matches in the group stages of the tournament
The first Chinese giant pandas ever to take up residence in the Middle East – who arrived in Qatar just ahead of the Fifa World Cup 2022 – are making a new name for themselves, by “predicting” the results of matches at the tournament.
Following in the tentacle-steps of Paul the Octopus who rose to fame doing the same thing at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the pair – three-year-old female Thuraya and Suhail, a four-year-old male – have already correctly “predicted” the unexpected winners of two matches.
They left their home in China Conservation and Research Centre for Giant Pandas’ Ya’an base in Sichuan province at the beginning of this month and first received visitors in Doha, the capital city of Qatar, last week.
On the eve of the tournament’s opening match between hosts Qatar and Ecuador, staff at the Panda House in Al Khor Park where Thuraya and Suhail live placed the flags of the competing countries on a glass wall.
Soon after doing so, one of the pandas crawled towards the wall, looked at each flag for a few seconds, paused, sniffed both for a while before raising a paw to touch the flag of Ecuador, a short video has shown. The South American team went on to win the game.
Two days later, prior to the match between Germany and Japan, the same flag scenario was set up and one of the pandas – it is still unclear which one – wasted no time before placing both paws against the Japanese national flag. Japan won.
The panda duos’ predictions have amused mainland Chinese internet users.
“It’s magic! Is there some mystical power from the East?” Joked one Weibo poster.
“Awesome! Perhaps I can let my pet cat try it tomorrow,” said another.
However, as every gambler knows, you can’t win them all.
Hours before the game between Uruguay and South Korea on Thursday, one of the pandas predicted a Uruguay win. The game ended in a goalless draw.
“Don’t blame our pandas. They didn’t have the option of a draw,” said an internet user.
Many netizens said the panda-predictors reminded them of Paul the Octopus from Germany whose uncannily accurate predictions at the 2010 World Cup turned him into a global celebrity.
Sadly, just weeks after the 2010 tournament ended, Paul passed away, possibly as a result of his exertions.
