Old beats young, we beat the West in the West Lake boat race

At the West Lake Dragon Boat Racing Tournament (Hanoi) on October 13, there were many new and dramatic events, with a series of surprises in the race to the championship.

The Hanoi Open Dragon Boat Racing Tournament was held on October 13 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Capital Liberation Day. This year, the opening ceremony featured a parade of dragon boats, sailboats, SUPs, kayaks, SKYs, motorized inflatable boats, etc.

About 800 athletes from 48 sailing teams from 32 units participated in the competition...

The teams compete at Ly Tu Trong Flower Garden - the racetrack is the West Lake water surface, Thanh Nien and Nguyen Dinh Thi streets. In the photo, the Singapore dragon boat racing team.

The tournament became special when it featured student rowing teams such as Thuy Loi University (photo). However, due to lack of experience and training time, student rowers could not achieve high rankings.

The group of athletes from Dong Anh district is one of the candidates to win high prizes in both men's and women's categories.

According to the regulations, the teams compete at a distance of 500m (250m turn), each boat has 12 male and female rowers from international dragon boat teams and Vietnam Airlines team; teams from embassies and international organizations in Vietnam; and provincial and municipal teams in the country.

On the competition day, the morning matches were a bit less exciting. Some competitors seemed to have understood each other after the 5 times the tournament was held on West Lake.

Strong clubs like Tay Ho or Trau Vang Ho Tay are candidates to compete for the top spot thanks to their careful preparation before the tournament. However, they all failed to compete. Tay Ho men's team made a mistake in the turn (2 minutes 58 seconds 93), losing to Bac Tu Liem (2 minutes 54 seconds 02), Chuong My (2 minutes 54 seconds 71) and Dong Anh (2 minutes 55 seconds 56).

In the photo, the spectacular acceleration in the final seconds of the District Men's Boat Race by the Bac Tu Liem team. Because all three teams finished so close, no athlete celebrated until the Organizing Committee announced the championship.

Thanks to the support of the fans, the Dong Anh district women's rowing team competed impressively until the semi-finals. However, this team only finished second with a time of 3 minutes 8 seconds 03, behind Chuong My (3 minutes 5 seconds 04).

The Vietnam Airlines team surprised everyone by winning the International Mixed Boat Race. The team beat the second-placed team, China, by 13 seconds to win the championship.