60 Ngo boat teams in the Mekong Delta region are ready for the big festival.

To maintain the championship title of last season, this year the male and female boat teams of Tum Nup Pagoda, An Ninh Commune, Chau Thanh District, Soc Trang Province have maintained the same training time as every year, specifically 1 and a half months for the 2 male boat teams and 1 month for the female boat team.

With the large scale of the tournament, attracting the participation of many strong boat teams, this year the coach of Tum Nup Pagoda focused on investing in swimming techniques, increasing more training exercises, and increasing swimming speed to reach the finish line soon.

In addition, the temple also mobilized funds to renovate, repair, replace new fishing rods, paint patterns... with a budget of about 200 million VND, creating excitement for the whole team.

Talking about the training process of the brothers in the past days, Mr. Kim Truong, athlete of the Ngo boat team of Tum Nup pagoda, An Ninh commune happily said that up to this point, the Ngo boats of the pagoda are ready for the upcoming race: "The spirit of the team for this year's race is very enthusiastic and also trying to promote the Khmer ethnic cultural traditions of the Khmer people, to come to the Ooc-Om-Boc-Ngo boat racing festival in Soc Trang province this year. Just like every year, the brothers also warm up on the shore and then we get on the boat and swim straight on the boat, 01 day we swim 8km, swim 4 times each time, so it is 2km".

Ngo boat racing practice

Sharing the efforts of the female athletes participating in training for the competition, Ms. Ly Pha Quy, an athlete of the female boat team of Tum Nup pagoda, An Ninh commune happily confided: "Training from September 15 until now, I see that the results of the female athletes are also very good. The sisters also try very hard to practice every day from 4 to 6 o'clock, the sisters have different jobs, some go to work, do farming, and also take advantage of the time to finish eating, then around 4 o'clock in the afternoon they go out to practice. The sisters are also very united to practice to win for the pagoda".

Less than a week until the competition day, the training atmosphere of the Ngo boat team is more focused and urgent, the unity and determination are more clearly shown in the training sessions.

Four-Faced Pagoda, Phu Tan Commune, Chau Thanh District, Soc Trang Province with a newly built Ngo boat, costing about 380 million VND, along with a force of young athletes, a new competitive spirit will certainly contribute to creating a lot of drama for the tournament. From the passion and love for community sports, the athletes of the team continue to preserve the fine cultural traditions of the Khmer ethnic group.

Mr. Lam Minh Thuong, a member of the Ngo boat team of Four Faces Pagoda, excitedly said: “This year's preparation of Four Faces Pagoda is different from previous years. We can practice earlier and the swimming style is different from previous years, because previous years, the old way of practicing did not improve. This year, there are new boats, new players, and a different swimming style. The athletes are also trying very hard and working together. In the past month, we have mainly focused on physical training. When competing with other teams, we have enough physical strength to compete.

Khmer people launch Ngo boats to prepare for competition

According to the Ethnic Minorities Committee of Soc Trang province, the traditional Ngo boat racing tournament of the Khmer people, the main activity within the framework of the 6th Ooc Om Boc - Ngo Boat Racing Festival in Soc Trang, Mekong Delta Region and the 1st Soc Trang Culture - Sports - Tourism Week in 2024, attracted 60 Ngo boat teams from provinces in the Mekong Delta region to participate; of which, there are 53 male Ngo boats and 7 female Ngo boats. Soc Trang province alone has 48 teams, the remaining boat teams come from pagodas in Bac Lieu, Ca Mau, Can Tho City, Hau Giang and Kien Giang provinces.

The tournament will take place on November 14 and 15 at Maspero River, Soc Trang City. At this time, the ngo boat teams are ready for the big festival.

Source: https://vov.vn/du-lich/60-doi-ghe-ngo-tai-khu-vuc-dbscl-da-san-sang-cho-ngay-hoi-lon-post1134128.vov