****************************************************
After three weeks of keen competitions, Yuen Long District was awarded the overall championship of the 3rd Hong Kong Games (HKG) at the closing cum prize presentation ceremony held at the Kowloon Park Sports Centre today (June 5).
The HKG lasted three weeks, with athletes from 18 districts contesting in eight sports, namely athletics, badminton, basketball, swimming, table tennis, tennis, volleyball and futsal.
Yuen Long District accumulated the highest total scores from all the eight sports competitions and seized the "Overall Champion of the 3rd HKG¡VThe Hong Kong Jockey Club Trophy". The Overall 1st Runner-up was Sha Tin District while the Overall 2nd Runner-up went to Central and Western District.
The overall champions for each of the eight sports were: Tuen Mun (athletics); Yuen Long (badminton); Yau Tsim Mong (basketball); Sha Tin (swimming); Central and Western (table tennis); Yuen Long (tennis); Kwai Tsing (volleyball) and Eastern (futsal).
Officiating at the ceremony, the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Tsang Tak-sing, said in watching the matches, he witnessed the sportsmanship and determination of the athletes, making people experience once again the affection and cohesion brought by sports competitions.
He believed that through the HKG and the concerted efforts from various parties, the culture of participation and appreciation in sports activities would be strengthened in the community. He hoped the winning districts and athletes would keep up the spirit of the HKG and continue to strive for the best.
The scale of the 3rd HKG was larger than the last one, with two more sports competitions, volleyball and futsal, added to it. Eighty-three events were organised with 251 medals awarded, comprising 83 gold, 85 silver and 83 bronze. Athletes representing 18 districts increased from some 2 300 in the 2nd HKG to over 3 000 this year.
Yuen Long district grabbed 12 gold medals and won the title of the newly-introduced "District with the Most Gold Medals" commending the district which got the most gold medals in the events of the eight sports competitions.
In recognition of progress made by the district compared with its performance in the last HKG, another newly-added award "District with the Best Progress" was introduced this year. The award went to Kwun Tong and Kwai Tsing Districts, both of which scored 16 marks more in the eight sports competitions when compared with their results in the 2nd HKG, making a significant progress.
Kwai Tsing District, having fielded 187 athletes in the eight sports competitions of the HKG, won the title of the "District with the Greatest Participation in the 3rd Hong Kong Games".
To enable more people to participate in the HKG, various contests and activities such as opening ceremony, cheering team competition, photo contest, voting and guessing activities were also organised throughout the games period. These public participation programmes attracted more than 300 000 people to join, resulting in a participation rate significantly higher than that of the 2nd HKG.
In this context, the Tuen Mun District cheering team won the champion of the Best Performance Award of the "Cheering Team Competition for the 18 Districts" while Islands District won the Best Local Characteristics Award champion.
Wan Chai District became the favourite sporty district, scoring 29 899 votes out of the total of 158 365 votes cast for "Voting for My Favourite Sporty District". There were also 143 076 votes in the "Guessing of the Overall Champion of the 3rd HKG" contest.
The deadline for the submission of entries in the "Dynamic Moments Photo Contest" will be at 6pm on June 8. The winning entries will be displayed at forthcoming roving exhibitions to be held at LCSD venues in the 18 districts.
In addition to the prizes presentation, pop singers Sherman Chung and William Chan led the officiating guests and others in singing the HKG theme song "Come On Games On". There were also performances by the Hong Kong Police Band and the cheering teams.
After the ceremony, Chairman of the 3rd HKG Organising Committee, Mr Chau How-chen and Chairman of the Community Sports Committee, Mr William Tong, drew the winners of the "Voting for My Favourite Sporty District" and "Guessing of the Overall Champion of the 3rd HKG" prizes. The list of winners will be announced on Sing Tao Daily and The Standard on June 15, and will also be uploaded to the 3rd HKG webpage (hongkonggames.lcsd.gov.hk).
Also officiating at the ceremony were the Honorary President of the 3rd HKG, Mr Ip Kwok-him; the Vice-President of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, Mr Victor Hui; and the Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, Mrs Betty Fung.
Representatives of the 18 District Councils and eight National Sports Associations, the 3rd HKG Ambassadors, representatives from the 3rd HKG "Principal Contributor" Hong Kong Jockey Club and the "Major Sponsor" the Yuen Yuen Institute also attended the ceremony.
Ends/Sunday, June 5, 2011
Issued at HKT 17:51
NNNN
