Successfully ended a special Sports Festival

The competitions in the congress program ensure professional quality.

Late on the afternoon of September 25, the Beach Volleyball Championship - the final competition in the program of the 9th Hai Duong Provincial Sports Festival in 2022 - ended, closing a congress that encountered many difficulties and was the most special ever.

"Slow but steady"

The 9th Sports Festival at commune, district and provincial levels in Hai Duong has been postponed many times due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic. Through 9 times of organization (since 1985), this is the most difficult congress. The organizing committee, sectors, localities, referees, coaches, and athletes are all "impatient" when almost all preparations have been completed but then have to stop. The performance and spirit of the athletes are also greatly affected when they have to "wait" for the epidemic to pass.

When the epidemic was gradually controlled, the 3-level congresses were held with a spirit of high determination, flexible adaptation and ensuring epidemic prevention. From April 7-9, 2022, the Badminton Championship was the first competition to be held, with the participation of 124 athletes from 12 localities and the Police and Military delegations. At this time, the organization of competitions in conditions suitable for the epidemic, the number of spectators was also limited. Immediately after the successful badminton tournament, in April, the following sports were continuously organized: traditional wrestling, chess and table tennis.

Initially, the congress was scheduled to have 18 events, but at the last minute, the women's football event was canceled due to insufficient teams registering. According to the preliminary assessment of the organizing committee, the organization was carried out carefully. The referee team running the tournaments was experienced, managed objectively, impartially, and accurately determined the athletes' achievements. The athletes competed in solidarity, honesty, and nobility, with the spirit of "faster - higher - further and stronger" throughout.

The opening ceremony of the 9th Provincial Sports Festival was held at the Central Square of the Eastern Region Culture Center on the evening of August 13. This was the first time the opening ceremony was held on a large scale with grand displays of force and art programs "Hai Duong - Aspiration to rise", "Hai Duong Youth Reaches New Heights" and "Hai Duong Integration and Development" witnessed by 3,000 spectators.

It can be seen that, despite the impact of the epidemic, the competitions and the opening ceremony of the congress took place late, but were organized with the "slow but sure" perspective, so they were a great success.

Closing the gap

According to the medal tally of the 9th National Sports Festival being compiled by the professional department, after 17 competitions, the Organizing Committee of the Festival awarded a total of 114 gold medals, 114 silver medals and 162 bronze medals. Hai Duong City continued to maintain its No. 1 position through all the Games, winning 21 gold medals, 16 silver medals, 23 bronze medals, far surpassing Chi Linh - the second-placed team by 5 gold medals. In addition to the above 2 positions, Nam Sach ranked third for the first time overall, winning 16 gold medals, standing above the successful locality Kinh Mon town with 2 gold medals. "This is the result of training, practice and competition of the team of coaches and athletes over the past years. The district continues to exploit its strengths. In traditional martial arts, the district's martial artists won 6 out of a total of 11 gold medals," said Mr. Mac Quoc Dong, Director of the Culture-Information-Sports Center of Nam Sach district.

At this congress, for the first time, Cam Giang district won 13 gold medals, ranking 5th overall. Mr. Vu Manh Huy, Director of the Culture-Information-Sports Center of Cam Giang district, assessed that 13 gold medals are a great encouragement for the district's sports career, the mass sports movement has made new progress. In the last two congresses, Cam Giang only ranked 7th. At this congress, the district sent 98 athletes to compete, with 3 sports Cam Giang won for the first time, including team chess, beach volleyball and 2 gold medals in Pencak Silat. "The organization of this congress is quite methodical and tight. This gives coaches and athletes peace of mind every time they compete to achieve high results for the district's sports", Mr. Huy said.

Hai Duong province has successfully organized all 9 sports festivals, the number of competitions and athletes has gradually increased over the years. In the first festival 37 years ago, the festival had 10 competitions, the most recent (the 8th Festival in 2018 had 16 competitions). The quality of the tournaments has also increased, providing an opportunity to select excellent athletes to supplement the Hai Duong sports delegation to compete at the National Sports Festival. The rankings between the delegations have also changed, in addition to the No. 1 position continuing to belong to Hai Duong City, the positions in the following groups have been swapped. Through hundreds of matches in 17 events, there have been no unfortunate incidents. This shows that the level of athletes, the movement and investment in the sports career between localities have improved and the gap has increasingly narrowed. Most of the events took place under the enthusiastic cheers of the audience, which also contributed to the success of the tournaments.

Another successful congress in terms of organization and professional quality has affirmed the movement "All people practice physical training following the example of great Uncle Ho" and the sports career of Hai Duong province is increasingly developing in both breadth and depth.

TIEN HUY