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China victorious at ICF Dragon Boat World Cup

Updated:2019-11-04 (chinadaily.com.cn)

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The China Ningbo team competes in the 2019 ICF Dragon Boat Word Cup held in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province on Nov 3. [Photo/cnnb.com.cn]

China triumphed at the 2019 ICF Dragon Boat Word Cup held on Dongqian Lake in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province from Nov 2-3.

The China team took home six gold medals, one silver medal and two bronze medals, while the China Ningbo team took home four gold medals and four silver medals.

The two teams ranked first and second respectively in terms of total medals, followed by Thailand, Russia, USA, Philippines, Hong Kong, China and Germany.

Nearly 1,000 athletes from 28 countries took part in the two-day event, attracting nearly 42,000 spectators, as per statistics from the organizing committee.

All figures indicated an increase in popularity around the world, noted Thomas Konietzko, vice president of the International Canoeing Federation.

According to Konietzko, the world cup, held for the first time, aims to popularize dragon boat racing around the world, with the ultimate goal of having it become part of the Olympic Games.

He said that dragon boat racing had been included in the 2018 Asian Games, adding that the ICF and Asian Kayaking Federation are trying to include the sporting event in the 2025 World Games.

The event contains two straight track races of different lengths – 200 and 500 meters – and adopts two different sized race boats with capacities of 10 and 22 people.

The event is sponsored by the ICF and organized by the China Canoeing Association and Ningbo Municipal People's Government. The ICF is an international governing body for canoeing, with its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.