The ISF World School Basketball Championship will be held in Macau for the first time, with nearly 600 secondary school students from 20 countries and regions competing at the Sports Complex of the University of Macau (UM), Mong Ha Sports Centre and Tap Seac Multisport Pavilion to play a total of 117 matches between this Sunday and July 3, according to a press conference yesterday.
The ISF World School Basketball Championship, organised by the International School Sport Federation (ISF) and co-hosted by a different country or region each year, aims to facilitate cultural exchanges between young people around the world and to improve their athletic performance and competitive ability.
The “major sporting event for secondary school students in the world” this year is co-hosted by the Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) in conjunction with the University of Macau and the Macau-China Basketball Association, with integrated resort (IR) operator Melco Resorts & Entertainment as the event sponsor.
A press conference about the upcoming competition was held yesterday at the DSEDJ headquarters, which noted that the opening ceremony will be held at the Tap Seac Multisport Pavilion on June 23, with its opening match having been scheduled for next Monday afternoon.
According to the press conference, all 12 members of the Macao Boys’ School Basketball Team and the Macao Girls’ School Basketball Team will compete against nearly 600 competitors from Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, mainland China, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Mexico, Mongolia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Chinese Taipei, Turkey, and Uganda in the Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament.
Delivering a speech during the press conference, DSEDJ Director Kong Chi Meng said that “the championship will provide opportunities for local students not only to broaden their horizons by competing with their peers from around the world, but also to share the joy of the double celebration and the successful practice of ‘One Country, Two Systems’ with their international friends, youths and students”. Kong revealed that former National Men’s Basketball Team Head Coach Du Feng and Zhou Qi, who once played for the NBA’s Houston Rockets, will be in Macau during the tournament to attend cultural exchange activities.
This year marks the double celebration of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on October 1 and the 25th anniversary of Macau’s return to the motherland on December 20.
Kong Chi Meng (centre), director of the Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ); Akiko Takahashi (second from left), executive vice president and chief of staff to chairman and CEO of Melco Resorts & Entertainment; Chui Tin Lop (second from right), president of the Macau-China Basketball Association; Chau Kwai Chee (left), director of the Office of Sports Affairs of the University of Macau; and Chao Hio Tong, who heads the Referees Department of the Macau-China Basketball Association, pose during yesterday’s press conference about the “ISF World School Basketball Championship 2024”, at the DSEDJ headquarters.
– Photo: Yuki Lei
