Heilongjiang teams gear up for medals at National Games

The Heilongjiang sports delegation will compete for medals in 114 competitions divided between 16 different sports during the 13th Chinese National Games held in North China’s Tianjin municipality from Aug 27 to Sept 8, Harbin Daily reported.

The Chinese National Games, inaugurated in 1959, is billed as China's mini-Olympics and takes place every four years.

This year’s Tianjin games has attracted 10,217 athletes from 38 provincial delegations to compete in 33 sports.

An official from Heilongjiang Sports Bureau revealed that all of the 257 commissioned professional athletes in Heilongjiang province will participate in the national games. There is hope that the Heilongjiang delegation will win gold medals in competitions such as track and field, shooting, cycling and table tennis.

The Heilongjiang sports delegation appears at the opening ceremony of the 13th Chinese National Games on Aug 27. [Photo/MY399.COM]

There are many potential medal winners among the Heilongjiang delegation. The representative athletes include Wang Zhen, a gold medal winner from the 2016 Rio Olympic Games; Gao Xinglong, a long jump champion at the 2016 Shanghai IAAF Diamond League Track and Field; Kong Linghui, the runner-up in the women’s 200m competition at the 2016 National Indoor Track and Field Championship; as well as Ma Haifeng, the winner of the men’s 1500m competition at the 2015 National Track and Field Games.

Compared with this kind of event held before, the 13th Chinese National Games is for the first time allowing grassroots enthusiasts to compete in a total of 19 sports, including popular ones such as table tennis and badminton, as well as emerging sports, such as rock climbing.

A total of 107 grassroots players in Heilongjiang have qualified for the final competition at the national-level event. Among all the general public participation competition items already completed, the Heilongjiang delegation won five golden medals, one silver medal and two bronze medals.

The Heilongjiang team competes against Beijing in the men's roller skating ice hockey competition at the 13th Chinese National Games held in Tianjin. [Photo/enorth.com.cn]

The Heilongjiang delegation also won another two gold medals. One went to Mou Haipeng who won the 91 kg boxing championship that began ahead of the opening ceremony on Aug 13. It was the second time a Heilongjiang competitor has won the first prize for 24 years.

The other medal was awarded to the men's roller skating ice hockey team. The Heilongjiang team beat Beijing 5:2 in the final competition; the bronze medal went to Hebei team.

Another highlight for the Heilongjiang delegation was the youth badminton team which made its debut at the Tianjing National Games –– the first time Heilongjiang has competed in the badminton competition.

Mou Haipeng wears his medal after winning the 91 kg boxing championship at the 13th Chinese National Games on Aug 13. [Photo/people.cn]