At the Opening Ceremony for the 7th National Fitness Festival of
Beijing on Saturday 20th June 2009; China’s biggest table tennis event
was held.
More than 10,000 table tennis enthusiasts gathered.
It was part of a drive to encourage people to invest in a healthier
lifestyle being organised next to the National Stadium, the now famous
Bird’s Nest; the focal point of the 2009 Olympic Games;
Staged in the splendid grounds with more than 1,000 table tennis tables were in use!
Deng Yaping
Twice
Olympic Women’s Singles gold medalist, Deng Yaping, one of China’s all
time favorite table tennis stars participated in the huge event; hoping
that through events such as these people would see that exercise can
also be fun.
"The spirit of Olympic games is to participate. I
think what we should think about how we can encourage people to
participate in sport, especially with nationwide fitness programmes",
said Dengb Yaping. "So I think activities like this can help people to
make friends by playing table tennis and they have fun."
Overweight
At
the moment, according to China’s Health Ministry, nearly 60 percent of
males living in Beijing are considered overweight. Former Paralympics
gold medalist, Mi Shanhui, was excited by the huge event and hoped to
take part similar occasions in the future.
"I think the
atmosphere here is terrific; even though I have been playing table
tennis for a long time, I have never been to such a big event" said Wu
Huimin, a Beijing resident who felt honoured to play in such a major
event. "I am very happy right now; I hope to participate in such events
more often; I am excited.
Honoured
Such
an event may be held once in a life time. Beijing has never held such a
huge event before. I am very happy and honoured to be participating in
such an event."
It was a quite incredible occasion.
Source: www.ittf.com
