************************************************************
Yuen Long district won the overall championship of the 2nd Hong Kong Games (HKG) after three weeks of competitions as announced at the Closing cum Prize Presentation Ceremony of the HKG held at the Kowloon Park Sports Centre today (May 31).
The 18 District Councils have fielded a total of 2,307 athletes to take part in the HKG, contesting in six sports competitions namely athletics, badminton, basketball, swimming, table tennis and tennis.
Yuen Long district accumulated the highest total scores from all the six sports competitions and was awarded the ¡§Overall Champion of the 2nd HKG¡¨. The other champions for each of the six sports were : Sha Tin (athletics); Tuen Mun (badminton); Yuen Long (basketball); Eastern (swimming); Kowloon City (table tennis) and Yuen Long (tennis).
Officiating at the ceremony, the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Tsang Tak-sing, praised the athletes of the 18 districts having demonstrated sportsmanship in striving for excellence in various competitions. He said the event had also won the full support and active participation from various sectors in the community, including the 18 District Councils, the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, six relevant national sports associations and district sports associations and local groups. They were in co-operations and showed their endowment from selecting athletes, organising delegations, providing professional advice on sports competitions and referee service to arranging different trainings and cheering groups. Their support and contribution enabled the smooth conclusion of the HKG.
Mr Tsang said the HKG had drawn the participation from some 160,000 participants from the community. This showed that the HKG had successfully enhanced the support and enthusiasm for sports in the community. He added that by staging the HKG, various sectors in the community had together promoted the cohesion and sports development in the city.
He said although the HKG had come to an end, he hoped that each and every member of the Hong Kong people could continue their participation in sports, and got ready to welcome the East Asia Games (EAG) which would be held in December, enabling Hong Kong to host a successful EAG with local characteristics.
The HKG had run 80 events with a total of 241 medals awarded, comprising 80 gold, 80 silver and 81 bronze.
True to the spirit of "Sports for All", the youngest athlete was a seven-year-old girl from Sham Shui Po District, taking part in table tennis while the eldest one, a 77-year-old man from the Eastern District, also took part in table tennis.
To enable more members of the public to participate in the HKG in different ways, various contests and activities were also organised throughout the games period on top of the sports competitions.
The Yuen Long District cheering team won the Best Performance Award of the ¡§Cheering Team Competition for the 18 Districts¡¨ while Wong Tai Sin District won the Best Local Characteristics Award.
Eastern District, having fielded 144 athletes to take part in the six sports competitions of the HKG, won the title of the "District with the Greatest Participation in the 2nd Hong Kong Games", a newly introduced award this year to encourage more participation from the 18 districts.
Winners of the ¡§Dynamic Moments Photo Contest¡¨, another newly introduced programme this year, will be announced later after the adjudication in June. The winning entries will be displayed at the roving exhibitions to be held in the LCSD venues in the 18 districts.
Also officiating at today¡¦s ceremony were the Chairman of the 2nd HKG Organising Committee, Mr Chau How-chen; Vice President of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, Mr Victor Hui; and the Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, Mr Thomas Chow. Other guests included the chairmen / representatives of the 18 District Councils, representatives of the relevant National Sports Associations, and six elite athletes for each of the six sports of the 2nd HKG.
Before the ceremony concluded, pop singers Alex Fong, Stephy Tang, Terrence Chui and Edmond Leung sang the theme song of the EAG while the guests, EAG mascots ¡§Dony¡¨ and ¡§Ami¡¨ and athletes of the 2nd HKG, led by the Gymnastics Association of Hong Kong, China, performed the ¡§EAG Exercise¡¨.
In promoting the Hong Kong 2009 East Asian Games, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) had invited the Gymnastics Association of Hong Kong, China, to make use of the EAG theme song melody to design a set of gymnastics exercise - the ¡§EAG Exercise¡¨. The LCSD will hold a series of free play-in-sessions for people to learn and play this exercise at its designated parks and venues between June and August.
After the ceremony, Mr Chau and Mr Hui officiated the lucky draws to select the winners of the ¡§Voting for My Favourite Sporty District" and guessing of the "Overall Champion of the 2nd HKG".
Wan Chai District became the favourite sporty district, scoring 13,696 votes out of the total of 67,470 valid votes cast for "Voting for My Favourite Sporty District". There were also 62,593 valid votes in the guessing of the "Overall Champion of the 2nd HKG".
Ends/Sunday, May 31, 2009
Issued at HKT 16:46
NNNN