Haiyang, China: The Cambodian delegation was welcomed into the Athletes’ Village of the 3rd Asian Beach Games under bright and sunny skies in Haiyang on Wednesday morning. The delegation comprises of four athletes in men’s beach volleyball, a coach and Chef de Mission Lun Samedy of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia. “The Asian Beach Games is still quite new so we are training more athletes to take part in more sports in the future,” said Lun.

“The next Beach Games are in Phuket, Thailand, so we expect to have a bigger team then. Our target here is not to win the gold medal because we know there are many strong teams from different countries. We just want the players to show their best performance.” The Chef de Mission exchanged gifts with Village Deputy Mayor Cui Tianxin, who described the Athletes’ Village as “a home for us to share” and the Games as a bridge to join culture, understanding and friendship.

The ceremony kicked off with a lively performance of movement and dance to the backdrop of crashing cymbals, gongs and a pounding drum. The protocol teams for the flag-raising procedure and ceremony flow added to the occasion with their grace and precision. “The arrangements for the team welcome ceremony are very good,” added Lun.

“You can see that everything is well prepared and the protocol is very well organised. They have chosen a very nice area for the ceremony so that everyone can enjoy the performance. It looks very interesting.”