Dragon boat racing is a Vietnamese tradition. With the dragon boat racing festival, Hanoi authorities want to encourage sport among citizens and expats.

A dragon boat racing festival was held in Hanoi’s well-known West Lake, attracting large crowds. Source: toquoc.vn

A dragon boat racing festival was held in Hanoi’s West Lake on October 9, to mark the 68th anniversary of the capital city’s Liberation Day (October 10).

This year’s Hanoi dragon boat racing festival, which started in 2018, draws the participation of 36 teams both domestic and international.

This is the fourth year the Hanoi Open Dragon Boat Racing Festival has been held, previous years' tournaments are held at the beginning of the new year. However, due to Covid-19, the 2022 tournament had to be postponed until now.

Source: toquoc.vn

The race took place with men’s, women’s and mixed categories. Source: Vietnam Airlines

Thousands of locals and visitors began to gather at the West Lake in the early morning, long before the competition started at 8 am.

At the opening event, visitors were treated to special art performances, including dragon and lion dances.

Director of the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports Do Dinh Hong said that the 2022 Hanoi Open Dragon Boat Racing Festival is an annual tournament organized by the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports and the Vietnam Airlines. Over the past three years, the racing festival has become a typical annual sporting event of the city and a familiar and attractive playground for boat racing enthusiasts.

This year, there are many individual and international teams participating, making the tournament not only community but also promoting tourism of the city and Vietnam, he added.

The event brought together over 500 athletes from 36 teams of Hanoi’s districts and other provinces/cites along with and embassies, international organizations. Source: Vietnam Airlines

With the meaning of connecting domestic and international communities, promoting tourism development, aiming for the city's typical annual mass sports event, this year's event attracts the participation of more than 500 athletes from 36 teams of eight provinces and cities: Ho Chi Minh City, Quang Binh, Ben Tre, Hung Yen, Vinh Phuc, Hai Duong, Thai Nguyen and Hanoi; six Hanoi's districts including Tay Ho, Hoang Mai, Chuong My, My Duc, Ba Vi, Thanh Oai as well as six embassies and international organizations.

Pham Thu Trang, member of the Swedish Alumni Network Vietnam, told Hanoi Times' reporter that this was her third time participating in the Hanoi Open Dragon Boat Racing Festival.

"Since knowing that the event is being held again, I and the whole team feel very excited. We participate in the tournament not for the purpose of prizes, it is important that in the process of training and competition, we can exchange and learn with other former international students. So, even though we are not professional athletes, the whole team is working hard and looking forward to the day we can compete," she shared.

For the first time, a German team consists of the embassy's staff and alumi attended the Hanoi Open Dragon Boat Racing Festival and they won the first place in the mixed category of the foreign embassies and international organizations.

The German Embassyand the alumni association team receives the gold medal, on the afternoon of October 9. Source: Vietnamnet

The German Embassy team and the alumni association excelled with the rest of the teams when they won the overall first prize in the mixed category of the foreign embassies and international organizations. The US Embassy and Alumni Association won second place, while the British Embassy and alumni association won third place.

At the finals of the District Women's category, the Tay Ho team impressed with spectacular sprints and pocketed gold with a record of 3 minutes 13 seconds 37.

Following the success of the women's team, the men of the Tay Ho team also came first in the Southern District's men category immediately after. Second and third place are Hoang Mai and Chuong My teams.

In the Provincial - City category, the HCM City team got the gold; teams from Ben Tre and Hanoi won silver and bronze medals.

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