“2019 Macao International Dragon Boat Races”were held by the Sports Bureau and China-Macau Dragon Boat Association and co-organized by the Municipal Affairs Bureau and Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau. It took place on June 1 and 2, and July 7.
Women's Jiujiang's 9th Consecutive Victory
The International Invitational Standard Dragon Boat Race was held on the Dragon Boat Festival, July 7, at Nam Van Lake Nautical Centre, attracting a large number of residents and visitors to watch the race. After several intense races, Thai national team in the men's open category broke the record of consecutive victories as previously set by China's men's Nanhai Jiujiang and was crowned the champion in the Nam Van Lake race. China's women's Nanhai Jiujiang set a legendary record of 9 consecutive victories, defeating Myanmar national team by a narrow margin.
The finale on the Dragon Boat Festival was the grand final of the men's open 500-meter Standard Dragon Boat Race. The team who strove for four consecutive victories China's Nanhai Jiujiang, a strong team from South Asia Thai national team, champion in the local race SJM Golden Jubilee, Macao team, China Jiangmen City Lile Wenchang Group and Hong Kong China Dragon Boat Association all together engage in an intensive race. In the middle section of the race, Thai national team and Nanhai Jiujiang were locked in a tight race. Eventually, Thai national team crossed the finishing line with the result of 1 minute 53 seconds 114 and was crowned champion. Nanhai Jiujiang was placed in the second place by a narrow margin of 0.4 seconds. SJM Golden Jubilee won the third place. Macao team won the fifth place with the result of 1 minute 57 seconds 716. In addition, the grand final of the women's Standard Dragon Boat event was equally amazing, with entrants such as China's Nanhai Jiujiang, Myanmar national team, Thai national team, Singaporean national team, Macao team and Hong Kong China Dragon Boat Association, who together fought honor for their countries or regions. Myanmar national team, who demonstrated their excellence in the semi-final, and China's Nanhai Jiujiang were leading soon after the race started. In the final 100-meter section, Nanhai Jiujiang, in their high morale, gained an edge over Myanmar national team with a narrow margin of 0.1 second, becoming the 9-time champion with the result 2 minutes 03 seconds 439. Myanmar national team and Thai national team won the second and third place respectively. Macao team ranked the 5th with 2 minutes 15 seconds 955.
In terms of the University Invitational Open 500-meter Standard Dragon Boat event, the University of Macao defeated teams from University of Kasit from Thailand and Binhai College, Nankai University from Tianjin, China, winning the champion once again after losing for three years. Leong Ka Wai from the University of Macao won the best drummer award. Hong Kong Leisure and Cultural Services Department won the champion in the Civil Servant 200-meter Invitational.
Equally Amazing Local Races
The local races were held at Nam Van Nautical Center on June 1 and 2. At first, 47 races in the 200-meter Small Dragon Boat event were held there. In the public sectors category, the Fire Services Bureau brilliantly won the champion again after losing for two years, becoming the“double champions”in both public category and public sectors category. SJM Golden Jubilee Team A won the second place with 49 seconds 768. David Monte Carlo Team A won the third place with 50 seconds 492. In the women's open category, the Macau Youth Development Association defeated the previous champion SJM Lotus Team A to win the championship. SJM Lotus Team A lagged behind with a margin of 0.366 seconds and ranked the second. MGM Team A won the third place.
In the grand final of the 200-meter Small Dragon Boat event in the university category, the University of Macau Team A defended their champion with 51 seconds 145. The City University of Macao Team A won the second place. The third place went to the Macao Polytechnic Institute Team.
In the 500-meter Standard Dragon Boat event, SJM Golden Jubilee defeated a number of competitive teams and defended the champion in the open category. The champion in the women's category was won by the Macao Youth Development Association. After winning the 200-meter Small Dragon Boat event champion on the first day, they also won the champion in the men's Small Dragon Boat open category, becoming the“double champions”.
