National Sports Games

The ninth National Sports Games will begin open on December in 11 cities and provinces with Quảng Ninh the main locality. The NSG will be the largest in scale with more than 17,000 participants. Photo toquoc.vn

HÀ NỘI — The 2022 National Sports Games (NSG) will be held in Quảng Ninh Province from December 9-21.

This is the ninth time the event has been organised and will attract more than 17,000 athletes, coaches, officials, referees, staff, volunteers and others.

The Games will see delegations from 63 cities and provinces, the military and public security teams.

Quảng Ninh will be the main locality hosting 21 sports. Ten other cities and provinces including Hà Nội, Hải Phòng and Bắc Ninh will take responsibility for the rest.

The opening ceremony will take place at the Sun Carnival Hạ Long Square on December 9. The closing ceremony is on December 21 at the Đại Yên Sports Complex in Hạ Long City.

"The Games which is organised quadrennially will review our sporting activities in the last four years, especially to evaluate our training and competing in elite sport," said Dr Đặng Việt Hà, director of the Việt Nam Sports Administration.

"Through the review, we will pick up the talented athletes for the national teams which will compete in the coming international tournaments including the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia and the 19th Asian Games in China in 2023 and the qualifications for the 2024 Paris Olympics.".

According to organisers, almost 10,000 athletes will compete in 43 sports at more than 900 events.

Hà Nội, HCM City and the Military will send the largest number of participants. They are also the title favourite teams of the Games. Meanwhile Điện Biên, Bắc Kạn and Ninh Thuận has smallest competitors.

Football and futsal are the two sports with the most athletes while golf and gymnastics have the least.

Fifteen sports will be completed prior to the opening ceremony because of their international competition schedules.

Currently, rowing events have wrapped up with HCM City topping the podium, followed by Đà Nẵng and Hải Dương.

Shooting will close today while football and karate are ongoing.

"In short, most of our preparation activities have been done. We took advantage of facilities, services and experience from the 31st SEA Games in May. We will apply all the best at the coming NSG," said Trần Đức Phấn, head of the NSG's Technical Subcommittee

"We also train referees and staff again to improve and update their quality and knowledge."

About doping activities, the organisers said a Medical Subcommittee has been working hard to make sure of a fair and honest Games.

About 100 athletes will be selected to be randomly tested. The number is small compared with the total competitors but according to Nguyễn Văn Phú, director of the Việt Nam National Center for Anti-Doping & Sports Medicine, it was double that in the 2018 Games. The shortage of expenses is the main reason for this low rate of tests.

The subcommittee officials and staff are available to popularise and support athletes and coaches on all issues concerning doping. They also carry out programmes to guide and help sports people understand clearly about this matter.

The organisers will cooperate with Health Bridge, an NGO focusing on making urban neighbourhoods more livable and conducive to healthy lifestyles, to promote sport without smoking movement.

At the eighth NSG in 2018, hosts Hà Nội topped the medal tally with 176 golds, 149 silvers and 139 bronzes. HCM City were second (118, 101, 103 ) and the Military third (59, 61, 86). VNS