It is an honor for South Sumatra because we will be holding three events simultaneously."Palembang (ANTARA News) - Fourteen countries will participate in the Asian Canoe Championship in Palembang, South Sumatra province, to be held from November 4 to 18, 2015, a pre-qualification round for 2016 Rio de Jenairo Olympics.
The Assistant administration of South Sumatra province, Akhmad Najib, said here on Monday that the executive committee is still awaiting confirmation from the countries invited.
"Approximately 20 Asian countries will participate, and the number of athletes and officials is likely to be 300," Najib said.
He added that the high interest among Asian countries to participate in the championship was because this event is a pre-qualifying round of the Olympics.
Fourteen countries which have already registered included Hong Kong, Tajikistan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Indian, Kyrgyzstan, North Korea and Kazakhstan.
Deputy Chair of the Provincial Board of the Indonesian National Sports Committee of South Sumatra Musni Wijaya added that besides canoe championship, the province will also host the Congress of the Federation of Asian Canoe on November 3, 2015, and the Asian Dragon Boat Championships on November 4 to 5, 2015.
"It is an honor for South Sumatra because we will be holding three events simultaneously," he said.
He added that the canoe and dragon boat championships will witness participation by 30 Asian countries, while the 40 countries will participate in the Congress.
"We will prepare carefully for these events as the committee has adequate experience, having organized the SEA Games in 2011 and the Islamic Solidarity Games 2013," he said.
(Uu.KR-LWA/INE/KR-BSR/H-YH)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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