Asian Games

The Việt Nam delegation at the flag raising ceremony on September 22 in Hangzhou, China. Photo of SAV

HÀ NỘI — The national flag of Việt Nam was raised at the athletes' village in Hangzhou, China, during the Asian Games opening ceremony on September 22.

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoàng Đạo Cương, Consul General of Việt Nam in Shanghai Nguyễn Thế Tùng and Chief-de-mission Đặng Hà Việt were in attendance, along with several Việt Nam Olympic Committee officials and representatives, coaches and athletes.

During the ceremony, the Việt Nam national anthem was played and Việt exchanged gifts with the organising committee representative, and festive shows and carnival activities were performed.

The Vietnamese delegation joined international athletes in Hangzhou for the Games, set to officially commence soon.

Việt Nam athletes who are competing in 31 sports seek to secure up to five gold medals that reflects the great development in sports thanks to the great interest and support it receives from the wise leadership. 

"It is an emotional moment seeing the national flag raising high. It pushes me to do my job better and gain high result from this Asian Games," said Olympian fencer Vũ Thành An.

"The Games will gather the best athletes of Asia who are also in the world top group. I set myself to go beyond my limits and win medal from this tournament."

The Vietnamese delegation is receiving strong support from the Vietnamese Embassy in China and the Vietnamese Consulate General in Shanghai.

Consul General Tùng said: "The Embassy in Beijing has sent specialised officers to coordinate with the delegation and the Consulate General in Shanghai to arrange issues related to travel and reception.

"In addition, we have contacted with the Vietnamese International Students Association in China to go to competition venues to encourage the teams during competition." 

Following the ceremony, Deputy Minister Cương met athletes at the sports village and urged them to leave no stone unturned to showcase an honourable image of Vietnamese sports in the major Asian forum.

The Games' opening ceremony will be held at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium, a state-of-the-art venue that can accommodate up to 80,000 spectators, on September 23. VNS