Vietnam gears up to host fifth Asian Beach Games

By VnExpress   September 15, 2016 | 03:47 pm PT
Vietnam gears up to host fifth Asian Beach Games
Photo by VnExpress.
The event will be held on My Khe Beach - considered one of the most beautiful beaches in Vietnam.

Vietnam's central city of Da Nang is gearing to host the fifth Asian Beach Games next week.

The event will be held from September 24 to October 3 along the Son Tra Peninsula, and is expected to draw about 10,000 participants competing in 14 sports.

Da Nang authorities said they have assigned the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to prepare a range of activities to create an entertaining environment for visitors and foreign athletes. 

"The biennial games will be a good chance for Vietnam to show off its sport and tourism potential," Viet Nam Sports Administration head Vuong Bich Thang told daily newspaper Vietnam News. Thang also said that the games would promote tourism in the city.

Initiated by the Olympic Council of Asia, the ABG first took place in 2008 in Bali, and has been held every two years since. At the closing ceremony of the fourth Asian Beach Games in Phuket, Thailand in 2014, Vietnam was handed the OCA flag as the next ABG host.

The organizing committee has opened a hotline on 0511 1022 (supporting both English and Vietnamese) to provide information about the event for locals and visitors, and to supports athletes during their stay in Da Nang.

Earlier this week, a storm made landfall on Vietnam’s central coast, affecting preparations for the event. The organizers were forced to dismantle some stands, a pavilion and playing areas on Monday.

Preparations for the event quickly resumed after the storm moved deeper inland from Da Nang to Quang Ngai Province the following day.

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