More cash for Asian Games gold medallists
ACCOLADES and cash rewards continued to pour in on Saturday for Asian Games gold medal winning jet skier Ou Moeut Sally and jiu-jitsu sensation Jessa Khan as a vice-presidentsof the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia and president of the Cambodian Sailing Federation Gordon Tang rewarded them with $8,000 each, while adding another $3,000 for Saly’s bronze medal.
Aside from Prime Minister Hun Sen, Tang has been one of the biggest benefactors of Cambodian sports when it comes to personal cash rewards for outstanding performers from the country in major regional and international events. He set the trend after the 2017 SEA Games and has now vowed to continue this support.
“My aim is to support the growth of Cambodian sports and see athletes compete well at the highest levels and drive them towards our ultimate goal of winning an Olympic medal,” said Tang, who could not be present due to his prior engagements, in a statement made available to the post by his representative Meng Wang of Singapore.
SEA Games stadium feted
The cash award ceremony was presided over by NOCC president Thong Khon at the near-$200 million Morodok Decho National Sports Complex, which is fast approaching completion about 20km from the capital and which will be the main hub for the 2023 SEA Games Cambodia will be hosting for the first time.
The NOCC chief, who is also the minister of tourism, took a detailed tour of the facility and r e v i e w e d t h e w o r k i n progress.
Later addressing members of the accompanying media, the tourism minister expressed immense satisfaction over the project and said he was glad that the generosity of the Chinese government and the personal efforts of Prime Minister Hun Sen had combined in good measure to leave a lasting legacy for Cambodia in the form of this state-of-the-art stadium.
“We are indeed proud that the Chinese construction company is using the latest technology that had never been used anywhere before to ensure a high quality of construction, configuration and even seating,” NOCC secretary-general Vath Chamroeun said.
The whole project is driven by cutting edge technology where everything is computerised to ensure perfection. Nearly 30 per cent of the work is yet to be completed and we expect the facility to be fully operational by 2021 which will give us at least two years for quality trials.
Meanwhile, the Chinese authorities have pointed out that this is the biggest sporting infrastructure venture China has ever invested in another country.
Two other note worthy factors are that both the President of China and the Prime Minister of Cambodia have taken personal interest in the project at every major step. This is also the most complicated and challenging project Chinese engineers had worked on in the sports arena which will make the Stadium unique in many respects and a stand out among some of the best in the world.