ASEAN navies exchange to promote solidarity

The officers and sailors on Ship 015-Tran Hung Dao participated actively and enthusiastically with the spirit of "fair play", creating a good impression on friends from countries in the region about the country, people and the Vietnam People's Army.

The competitions include relay races, sack races, obstacle races, centipede relays and tug of war. The sports exchanges are organized in the form of highly team-oriented games, aiming to bring joy and excitement to the sailors before the drills.

Not focusing on achievements, but all teams tried their best to compete, showing off their skills, agility, physical endurance, giving the audience exciting and competitive matches.

“We have been on board for a long time and have been on a relatively long voyage after participating in the exercises in Singapore, so sports activities like this not only help improve the health but also the spirit of the sailors,” Lieutenant Jeremy Joint Riong Kenjiro, officer on board the Brunei Navy’s KDB Daruttaqwa, shared enthusiastically. He happily said that “it is great to return home with good memories of the friendships that have been fostered through games and sports like this.”

Quickly wiping the sweat from his forehead after the obstacle course, Lieutenant Nguyen Thanh Ba, AK176 gunner on Ship 015-Tran Hung Dao shared: “My teammates and I have just completed the relay race which required comprehensive skills because we had to overcome obstacles three times in a row. The Vietnamese team and our Thai teammates coordinated well and competed with all their might.”

The competition format is quite special, that is, the teams of two countries are combined into one. The athletes of the two teams Vietnam and Thailand are collectively called the “Blue Team” and wear the same blue shirt prepared by the organizers.

The Vietnam-Thailand “joint forces” competed very well in the centipede game. 4 athletes (2 from Vietnam, 2 from Thailand) put their feet on two long wooden bars shaped like centipedes and moved very quickly to the finish line. The relay group of 4 athletes was also very agile, breaking away from the Malaysia-Indonesia “joint forces” and the Singapore-Brunei “joint forces”. After each shout of “one-two (1-2), one-two”, the 4 athletes of the “Blue team” moved their feet regularly and very quickly forward. If just one person was out of sync, walking faster or slower, it would affect the time and performance of the whole group, so there had to be very smooth coordination between the members.

Athlete Note, a sailor of the Royal Thai Navy’s HTMS Pattani, said he enjoyed the friendly atmosphere among ASEAN countries at the sports exchange. Fans from all countries, without distinction, cheered enthusiastically for all teams.

For his part, Lieutenant Jeremy Joint Riong Kenjiro added that combining teams like this will create more strength, just as ASEAN countries acting together will create strong nations.

Lieutenant Commander Victor Belmoro, in charge of Community and Special Services of the host country's Navy, expressed his joy: "The sports exchange is an opportunity for us to introduce Philippine culture, because there are competitions typical of the host country that athletes may experience for the first time. Different athletes from different countries are paired into one team to compete under one color. We do not see any distinction between countries, but only see the colors green, blue, white and yellow. Each team has overcome the language barrier and coordinated very well in the games. The proof is that everyone here is very excited and happy regardless of the result."

“As you know, unity is an important foundation of the ASEAN community as well as the countries in the region. Sports is a simple way, a simple language to promote commonalities, understanding and cohesion among our ASEAN countries,” Major Victor Belmoro emphasized.