Zhang Xiaojing, 17, who came from Changzhou in Hebei province with her cousin and three friends, said the line at the main ticket office was fairly orderly when she arrived Thursday afternoon. But in Friday's rush, only three of her friends were able to elbow their way close enough to buy tickets.

"If I'm going to be disappointed, I'm going to be disappointed. But I'm so tired. I didn't sleep last night," she said after spending the night playing poker with friends.

Security officials also scuffled with journalists trying to report on the sometimes-chaotic scene. Some reporters were escorted away after going into off-limits areas, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Hong Kong television showed several journalists pushing back against police. Hong Kong Cable TV showed a policeman putting his arm around the neck of one of their reporters and pulling him to the ground.

The reporter said he was assaulted after his crew refused to leave a media zone, Cable TV reported. They were seen surrounded by dozens of police.

A spokeswoman for Hong Kong Cable TV said the authorities' behavior was "unacceptable."

"We hope the authorities will live up to their earlier promise to allow full freedom of the press during the Olympic games," said Shum Siu-wah.

Open media coverage of unexpected events away from Olympic venues has been a question for these games. Beijing is on record promising complete freedom to report for foreign journalists, but already broadcasters have had their work interrupted.

An Olympic official defended the police actions, saying they were trying to keep order in the crowd of more than 30,000 people.

"There were many, many people over there and I think the police had to do their job and they had to keep order," said Sun Weide, spokesman for Beijing's Olympic organizing committee. He refused to comment on whether the sales process was poorly planned.

A Beijing police duty officer refused to comment, referring questions to a Xinhua report on the sales. The article said hot weather and the long wait caused some people to become impatient. Police imposed temporary measures, including limiting access to some areas, to maintain order, it said.

The high turnout underscores the demand for Olympics tickets, particularly among Chinese. In November, organizers had to suspend one round of domestic sales after overwhelming demand crashed the ticketing system. Officials switched to a lottery.

The official ticketing provider for the games has said every event in every venue was expected to be sold.

"We predict that this will be the first ... 'sold out' Olympics," Jonathan Krane, the head of Ticketmaster in China, said in May.

Ticket sales for past Olympics varied widely. The 2004 Athens Olympics sold only about two-thirds of 5.3 million tickets available, and there were many empty seats.

The Beijing Games are likely to be played in front of full venues, although tickets that went to sponsors and the national Olympic committees of participating countries may not all get used.

In all, 6.8 million Olympic tickets have been available for domestic and foreign sales.

The most expensive tickets are for the Aug. 8 opening ceremony, which cost $645. Organizers said 58 percent of all tickets would cost $12.90 or less, in line with efforts to make them affordable to average Chinese citizens.

---

Associated Press Writer Dikky Sinn in Hong Kong contributed to this report.