Local teams compete at dragon boat regattas

Dragon boat athletes from 139 local teams paddled the Nam Van Lake over the past two days during the first weekend of theMacau International Dragon Boat Races, striving to nab trophies in seven categories at the annual tournament.
One of the gaming operators teams, SJM Golden Jubilee, has notched up both champion titles at the two most-anticipated races, the open 200M for small boats and open 500M for standard boats, while the city’s fire service was awarded the first runner-up in the above categories, also clinching two first titles from two other categories exclusively for civil servants.
As the exhilarated winners brandished their champion flags, Angela Leong, accompanied by the dragon boat team leaders, presented the wining squads with the trophy from the head of the local Sport Development Board.
“We have taken part in these races for years, yet we were only close to the championship these few years. We achieved the best score this year,” said Chan Weng Kit, leader of the SJM teams. “Therefore many of our colleagues are so excited. We are just too happy now!”
To the team’s surprise, Ng Chi Kin, representative of the also delighted fire brigade team, described their winning as “out of expectations.”
“We planned to nab medals in the two civil servant categories and aimed for the grand final of the 500M. It exceeded our expectations to take medals from the four races,” he said.
Female dragon boat paddlers from the Macau Clube Desportivo Recreativo Ching Wa outperformed other teams in the Women’s 500M and bagged the title while Wynn Macau’s squad also demonstrated its strength to claim the championship prize in the Women’s 200M.
The University of Macau’s Team A and B won the first and second titles in the 200M race for university students. Staff reporter