——Recording First “Confucius Cup” Table Tennis Friendly Match in the Netherlands
The First “Confucius Cup” Table Tennis Friendly Match in Netherlands jointly organized by Confucius Institute The Hague (CIH), The Society of Chinese Scholars and Engineers in the Netherlands (VCWI), and Association of Chinese Students and Scholars in the Netherlands (ACSSNL) was successfully held at the gymnasium of TUE of Eindhoven on 11th, April. The match attracted 16 teams from different places of the Netherlands like Groningen, Wageningen, Nijmegen, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Mastricht TTV and so on. The Chinese Embassy also sent their team.
Mr. Luo Ping, director of the Education Department of Chinese Embassy addressed the opening speech for the match, and then, Chief Counselor Mr. Zhang Jin announced the match started.
In a friendly and warm atmosphere, players started competing in two halves. There are 5 matches between two teams: men single, women single, men single, double and men single. The first men single and women single started at the same time, and then followed double, and then the last two men single matches started together. Scoring adopted the common international standard, i.e. 11 points each set. During the match, players’ excellent skills won successive cheer and applaud time and again. No matter the player was an 60-year-old man, or a 5-year-old child, or a scholar, or a student, or a local Dutch friend, they all played with full attention and enthusiasm, enjoying the fun brought by table tennis.
When interviewed by the correspondent, Mr. Zhang Jinxiong said, from Rong Guotuan winning the first men single championship for China on the 25th World Table Tennis Championships in 1959, which inspired the Chinese national spirit, to the Ping Pang Diplomacy, table tennis, the national ball game of China, has inherited and passed on Chinese culture, promoted China’s progress and witness her development. The aim of this friendly match is to meet friends via table tennis, spreading sports spirit and popularize Chinese culture.
Director of Confucius Institute The Hague, Ms. Zhou Jiajuan started preparing this match since 2009, and received active backup from the Chinese Embassy. The goal of this match is to let the Dutch friends experience the elegancy and delicacy of Chinese culture through table tennis which carries the essence of it. The match was named after Confucius Institute, hoping that Dutch friends can learn more about and feel Chinese culture and even eastern culture.
Mr. Luo Ping held that this match brought a precious opportunity for overseas Chinese, Chinese scholars and students in the Netherlands to learn from each other in the playing, and better understand each other.
After one day’s heated competition, Confucius Institute team 1, HIGH TECH CAMPUS team, and TTV team won the top three places, followed by Rotterdam team 2 as the fourth. Other teams entering the 1/8 final include: Groningen team 1, Wageningen team Economic and Technical Center team, and Microelectronics Forum team. At last, Mr. Zhang Jinxiong announced the match ended successfully. We all are expecting the “Confucius cup” match next year!
This match was actively supported by the Education Department of Chinese Embassy in the Netherlands, and sponsored by Chinese Economic and Technical Development Center, Lijiachu Seafood Restaurant, and New Nanjing Restaurant.
Writing by Zhang Naixi, the ACSSNL reporter
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