Hangzhou: From the arrival of athletes to the post-match award ceremony, press conference, and even the emergency treatment during the competitions, all the venues are ready for the Hangzhou Asian Games to officially open September 23.
At the Gongshu Canal Sports Park Gymnasium, Hangzhou, a “Women’s Table Tennis Team Final” testing event was held Wednesday, reports Xinhua.
Meanwhile, the Hangzhou Asian Games Command Center, various specialised command centers, sub-command centers, specialised work teams, and all competition venue teams and independent training venue teams conducted a comprehensive drill focusing on arrival and departure services, Asian Games Village operations, media services, event security, competition organization, and award ceremonies.
“During the Asian Games, the Gongshu Canal Sports Park Gymnasium will host table tennis and breakdancing competitions. The venue operations team continually fine-tunes every aspect to ensure that the venue’s operations meet the requirements of the Asian Games,” said Wang Xiaochen, a staff member at the Gongshu Canal Sports Park Gymnasium.
Competition venues are the stages where athletes strive and showcase their talents. Recently, reporters visited some venues in cities such as Hangzhou, Ningbo, Wenzhou, and Shaoxing where competitions will be held. The concept of “green”, “intelligent”, “frugal”, and “civilized” is evident in the details. The facilities and staff are ready to welcome the upcoming Asian Games.
Located in Xiangshan County’s Songlan Mountain tourist resort, the Ningbo Xiangshan Sailing Center is surrounded by two breakwaters embracing a tranquil inner bay. Sailboats set sail one after another, circumventing the lighthouse and heading toward the sea. As the only venue involving maritime construction for the Hangzhou Asian Games, this place will host its first match September 20.
From completing venue construction projects, and organizing tabletop emergency plan rehearsals, to conducting various rescue and evacuation drills… Yang Shengang, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Ningbo Xiangshan Sailing Center, explained that as the event approaches, various tasks at the venue become more intense and organized. “August 29 to 30, through hosting a national team warm-up match, we engaged all aspects and personnel, testing all elements, truly examining the practicality of people, materials, processes, and workflows,” Yang Shengang said.
Given the complex marine meteorological and hydrological conditions, as the only sea-based event venue for this Asian Games, the Ningbo Meteorological Asian Games Support Team tailored a refined meteorological detection plan for the event, upgrading professional detection equipment, and many “black” technologies, like wind profile radar, help the support team to provide precise monitoring, accurate forecasting for the Ningbo competition area of the Asian Games.
At the Shaoxing Keqiao Yangshan Sport Climbing Center, several workers were adjusting the venue’s lighting layout. “After the testing competition, we reviewed and found that the original lighting layout needed adjustments. Additionally, we softened the lighting in the press conference hall,” said Chen Yuefang, Deputy Media Commander of the Sport Climbing Center.
In the last week of August, the climbing track also underwent a “rebirth.” “The climbing track is like an exam paper, we need to keep the actual climbing form confidential until the competition, so we rearranged the track layout.” Chen explained that the newly arranged track will incorporate decorative elements, which will be removed before the official competition, revealing the real form of the track.
Chen introduced that the climbing center’s capacity for each match is more than 500. After online ticket sales for the nine matches, nearly 5,000 tickets were sold in a short period. “We will be in the highest state of mind to serve the participants and welcome enthusiastic audiences from home and abroad,” Chen said.
The concept of “intelligent” and “frugal” is consistently upheld in the construction of venues for the Hangzhou Asian Games.
One of the football venues, Wenzhou Sports Center Stadium, is a sports facility that has been in operation for over ten years, and local authorities have upgraded and transformed it to meet the requirements of the Asian Games.
“Lawn maintenance is key to maintaining football fields. We use digital technology to achieve ‘smart lawn care,'” said a staff member Chen Sheng at Wenzhou Sports Center Stadium.
Chen Sheng introduced that 18 sensors installed under the lawn collect data on the temperature, humidity, acidity, and alkalinity of the grassroots, as well as the light intensity, sunshine hours, and solar radiation on the surface of the grass, while staffs carry out targeted and efficient maintenance according to the collected data to ensure the lawn is in its optimal state.
IANS