Macau gears up to welcome over 1,000 athletes as National Games open Nov. 9

The opening ceremony of the 15th National Games, jointly hosted for the first time by Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau, is set to begin in Guangzhou on November 9, with Pun Weng Kun, coordinator of the Preparatory Office for Macau’s competition zones, estimating that around 3,000 to 4,000 participants – including over 1,000 athletes – will take part in the Macau leg of the event.

According to Pun, the projected attendance for the National Games includes media personnel and technical staff, such as event coordinators, scoring officials, and equipment technicians.

Three hotels in Taipa will be designated as a compact athletes’ village, offering over 1,000 rooms for athletes from Macau and other regions.

“Given the popularity of Macau’s events and the influx of hundreds of media representatives, along with technical officials, we estimate that 3,000 to 4,000 people will come to Macau for the National Games,” Pun stated in a recent interview with the media, as reported by the public broadcaster. He also confirmed that all preparatory work for the Macau competition zone has been completed.

As reported, the National Games will take place next month across Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau, with Macau hosting events including table tennis, 3×3 basketball, men’s under-18 five-a-side basketball, women’s senior volleyball, and karate.

Among these, karate – designated as a mass-participation event – will kick off on November 6, marking the inaugural competition for the Macau zone. Pun noted last week that participating teams are expected to arrive in Macau three days prior to the event, on November 3.

Additionally, the table tennis events – comprising men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s team, women’s team, and mixed doubles – are scheduled to be held from November 7 to 20.

The roster published by the Chinese Table Tennis Association features prominent players such as Ma Long, Fan Zhendong, Wang Chuqin, Sun Yingsha, and Chen Meng.

The East Asian Games Dome in Cotai, which will serve as the event command center, is set to begin operations by the end of the month.

Pun reported yesterday that he has conducted multiple inspections of the command center’s functionality, describing the overall situation as “ideal and satisfactory.”

He expects that after one or two more days of system testing and debugging, the command center will commence its operational duties.

“The command center features numerous interconnected systems, with links established to Guangdong, Hong Kong, and various other locations. In fact, overall control and all personnel are already in place,” he added.

The Macau competition venues for the National Games will primarily include the Galaxy Arena, Wynn Palace, Studio City Event Center, Tap Seac Multi-Sports Pavilion, Macau East Asian Games Dome, The Venetian Arena, and Macao Forum. Pun noted that many of these venues have recently been handed over to the organizing office for construction and network installation, with all work progressing on schedule.

Regarding ticket sales, he mentioned during a media interview last week that sales for events in the Macau competition zone – including table tennis, women’s senior volleyball, and karate – have met expectations, with several key matches already sold out.

He anticipates a significant influx of visitors during the competition period. Sales figures for 3×3 basketball and men’s under-18 five-a-side basketball were not yet available, as tickets for these events had just gone on sale on Saturday.