17th Vietnam Journalists Association Table Tennis Championship

(NB&CL) The 17th Vietnam Journalists Association Table Tennis Championship - Sao Vang Cup 2024 will take place from December 1 to 3, 2024 at Cau Giay Stadium. The tournament promises exciting matches, top-notch competition mixed with enthusiastic cheers from the audience... promising to create a vibrant atmosphere, truly a sports festival for journalists.

Hope to contribute a small part to the success of the tournament

According to the Organizing Committee, up to now, there have been a total of 40 delegations with nearly 200 athletes registered to participate in the tournament. The delegation with the largest number of athletes is the Vietnam Television Journalists Association with 25 athletes. Many delegations are participating in the tournament for the first time, such as: Vietnam Business & Border Trade Magazine Journalists Association, Rural Mechanics Magazine, Photography & Life Magazine, Ethnic Studies Magazine... Many delegations come from Ho Chi Minh City, the South Central region, the Central Highlands region. Having become a tradition, the Table Tennis Tournament organized by the Vietnam Journalists Association not only attracts young athletes to try out but also attracts elderly athletes, including athletes born in 1948 (76 years old), in addition to 36 female athletes.

Journalist Ta Trung Thanh - Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Business & Border Trade Magazine shared: “ This is the first time I have participated in a sports tournament of the Vietnam Journalists Association. The tournament brings together journalists who love table tennis from all over the country, so I decided to participate with the spirit of practicing sports, taking joy as the main thing. During the preparation process for the tournament, I found that the organization was very methodical and scientific, the tournament regulations were quite strict, the Organizing Committee always connected and created the best conditions for the participating athletes, this helped us compete more confidently".

Athletes practice enthusiastically at the office. In the photo: Members of the Association of Journalists of Today's Rural Newspaper/Dan Viet practice at the end of the day.

Having participated in the Vietnam Journalists Association Table Tennis Tournament for many years, the athletes of the Vietnam Television Journalists Association have always achieved high results, winning many competitions. Hearing about the innovation of this year's tournament, especially the innovation in professional organization, modern facilities, and double the prize structure compared to previous years... made all the athletes more excited and happy.

Journalist Nguyen Anh Tuan - Vietnam Television Journalists Association said that these days, the members of the delegation try to spend time practicing in the evening. Currently, the station is preparing for the year-end programs so they are quite busy; the delegation has the most athletes but everyone is not gathered in one place, some athletes are in Hanoi, some work in Thua Thien Hue, Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho City so they cannot practice together. 1 or 2 days before the tournament, they will gather to prepare for the competition.

“ Although we are quite busy at the end of the year, we all try our best with the expectation of keeping the title of the best team, equal to last year's achievement. We come to the tournament with a joyful and learning spirit, wishing to contribute a small part to the success of the tournament. I consider this an opportunity to test my limits and compete with all my might. The most important thing is to meet colleagues from all over the provinces and cities after a year. In addition to the awards at the tournament, we also receive support from the Station's Board of Directors, which is a source of encouragement for our competitive spirit" - journalist Nguyen Anh Tuan shared.

It can be said that, up to this point, there is still about a week left until the official start of the tournament, many athletes take advantage of their time after work to practice and interact with colleagues. Thereby learning new techniques, trying to maintain to "improve", in the spirit of "practice literature and practice martial arts"... all to be able to contribute and test themselves at the Tournament.

Prepare the best conditions for the matches

The Vietnam Journalists Association Table Tennis Championship is a grassroots tournament for journalists. However, the Organizing Committee always aims for the Tournament to be organized strictly, comply with regulations, ensure fairness and objectivity with a noble sportsmanship spirit.

The Organizing Committee stipulates that table tennis players at the national level of masters and level I from 2019 and earlier are only allowed to participate in team competitions; table tennis players at the national level of masters and level I from 2019 and later are not allowed to participate in competitions.

To create a widespread effect for the tournament, the Organizing Committee has set up a fanpage to provide information and images of exciting matches to fans and press agencies. With many new features, the Organizing Committee hopes that the tournament can escape the framework of a tournament for the press, develop into an open table tennis tournament, creating conditions for journalists to interact with non-professional athletes in the Vietnamese table tennis community.

Fans and journalists eagerly await the upcoming kick-off days.

In particular, the stadium system and equipment have also been invested in more. This year, sponsor Kamito has equipped the "Titanium" table, which has never been seen in previous seasons. In addition, the competition mats and competition balls are all products for professional competitions. Regarding the prize, this year, with the support of Sao Vang Beer, Alcohol and Beverage Corporation (Savabeco), the prize has doubled. The total prize value is 238,000,000 VND, excluding secondary prizes. In addition, to ensure the spirit and health of the athletes, the competition time during the day is shorter than last year, starting at 8:00 a.m. and ending at 5:00 p.m. The organizing committee has adjusted the regulations, accordingly, men and women can register for 3 competition events. To avoid athletes having to wait, the Organizing Committee has arranged additional tables and a competition schedule to ensure athletes can recover for different matches.

At the recent announcement ceremony of the 17th Vietnam Journalists Association Table Tennis Championship - Sao Vang Cup 2024, journalist Nguyen Duc Loi - Permanent Vice President of the Vietnam Journalists Association, Permanent Deputy Head of the Steering Committee, Head of the Organizing Committee shared: “ This is an annual sports tournament, basically the organization and competition format are kept the same. However, this year there are some changes, in which the competition venue will take place at Cau Giay Stadium, which has better facilities and equipment, serving the tournament better. Currently, the number of athletes registering to participate in the tournament is increasing rapidly, we hope that this year the number of athletes participating in the competition will be a record number”.

In previous years, the organization budget was often quite tight, using the budget of the Vietnam Journalists Association, the budget was limited so the organization work was somewhat limited. This year, with the participation of sponsors, especially Sao Vang Beer Alcohol and Beverage Corporation, the Tournament has better financial conditions, the budget contributes to better serving the organization work, for the athletes participating in the competition.

“ Like many other agencies, units and organizations, when organizing an event, we cannot rely entirely on the budget, but need to rely on social work to make the tournament more successful and we also hope and believe that in the following seasons we will continue to receive the support of sponsors ,” emphasized journalist Nguyen Duc Loi.

Le Tam

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/giai-vo-dich-bong-ban-hoi-nha-bao-viet-nam-lan-thu-17--tranh-cup-sao-vang-2024-san-sang-khoi-tranh-post322168.html