Vice Chairman of Hanoi People’s Committee Chu Xuan Dung beat the drum to open the tournament.
Vice Chairman of Hanoi People’s Committee Chu Xuan Dung, Deputy General Director of General Department of Physical Education and Sports Le Thi Hoang Yen, Director of Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports Do Dinh Hong, representatives of embassies, representatives of agencies, departments, branches and many athletes and supporters attended the open ceremony.
This year’s tournament was organized to celebrate the 68th anniversary of the Capital’s Liberation Day (October 10, 1954 – October 10, 2022), and the 10th Capital Sports Festival in 2022.
In previous years, the tournament was held at the beginning of the New Year. However, due to the Covid-19 epidemic, the 2022 tournament has to be delayed until now.
Director of Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports Do Dinh Hong spoke at the opening ceremony of the tournament.
In the speech at the opening ceremony, Mr. Do Dinh Hong – Director of the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports, Head of the Organizing Committee of the tournament said that this was the fourth time in a row that the tournament had been held, becoming an typical annual sport event of the city and a familiar and attractive playground for boat racing enthusiasts. At the moment, the tournament had become an attractive playground for boat racing enthusiasts. The purpose was to preserve and promote the traditional sport (dragon boat), thereby promoting the image and people of the Capital; connecting national and international communities; promoting tourism of the city; towards the city’s typical annual mass sports event.
The Hanoi Open Dragon Boat Race Tournament 2022 took place from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on October 9, attracting the participation of more than 500 athletes of 36 boat teams from 8 provinces and cities including Ho Chi Minh City, Quang Binh, Ben Tre, Hung Yen, Vinh Phuc, Hai Duong, Thai Nguyen and Hanoi, 6 districts of Hanoi, including Tay Ho, Hoang Mai, Chuong My, My Duc, Ba Vi, Thanh Oai, and embassies, international organizations, clubs, businesses and domestic organizations located in the capital. The teams were divided into 3 groups, competing at distance of 500m, each boat including 12 men, women, or mixed both men and women.
After the Opening Ceremony, the competitions between the boat teams took place fiercely and excitingly with the enthusiastic cheers of the supporters.
Thanh Hung