TURIN, Feb. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- Organziers of the Turin winter Olympics said on Saturday that ticket sales have beat expectations for the 2006 Winter Games.

    "The total number of tickets sold is over 850,000, and we are selling tickets for an average of 8,000 euros a day," Cesare Vaciago, chief executive officer of the Turin Organizing Committee (TOROC), told a press briefing on Saturday.

    "We are on budget and the per cent average of ticket sales is over our expectations," he added.

    A lackluster response from Turin's residents has marred the run-up to the Feb. 10-26 Games, but ticket sales have heated up since the begining of the month.

    Freestyle and men's downhill Alpine skiing events are the best sellers, said Vaciago.

    "100 per cent of the tickets available were sold for the freestyle and men's downhill events," he said.

    "No other competition is below 35 per cent."

    Ealier in the week, TOROC said they had met the sales target of 64 million euros. Enditem