In April of Netherlands, the earth starts warmin, flowers are blooming, everywhere in the breath of spring.
The First “Confucius Cup” Table Tennis Friendly Match in Netherlands jointly organized by Confucius Institute The Hague, The Society of Chinese Scholars and Engineers in the Netherlands, and Association of Chinese Students and Scholars in the Netherlands was successfully held at the gymnasium of TUE of Eindhoven on 11th, April, with three teams winning the championship, second and third places.
The match attracted 16 teams from different places of the Netherlands like Groningen, Wageningen, Nijmegen, Rotterdam, Utrecht and so on. All players were in colorful sportswear and in good spirit and anxious to play, among which there was over-70-year-old player as well as 12-year-old child; there are also Chinese students, Chinese engineers working in the Netherlands, and local students from primary and high schools who are interested in playing table tennis. Besides, professional players form Mastricht TTV table tennis club and table tennis lovers from the Chinese embassy also participated in the match.
At 10:30, the match started with loud and sonorous singing by students from the Association of Chinese Students in the Netherlands. Mr. Luo Ping, director of the Education Department of Chinese Embassy addressed the opening speech for the match, interpreting the aim of the match: harmony, friendship and health; then, Chief Counselor Mr. Zhang Jin announced the match started.
Amid the friendly atmosphere, players began heated competition. Cheers from the audiences came wave after wave. Various techniques like smash, chop, loop drive were used skillfully, in which the players experienced the connotation of Chinese culture and team spirit, and enjoyed the fun of sports in the harmonious atmosphere. After group match, quarter final, semifinal, Confucius Institute team one and High-tech Campus team from Eindhoven met in the final. At last, the former won the championship as they wished; High-tech Campus team and TTV team won the second and third places. After the match, the Embassy team and Confucius team one presented a performance match; wonderful smashes and saving feasted audiences’ eyes.
Although the match only lasted for one day, the harmonious and friendly spirit, and the Chinese cultural connotation carried by the match leaf a deep impression on all players and audiences.
We all are expecting the “Confucius cup” match next year!
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