Nearly 4,600 coaches and athletes from 45 countries and territories will participate in the 5th Asian Beach Games (ABG5) in the central coastal city of Da Nang from September 24 to October 3.



Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Culture and Sports Nguyen Phuc Linh said the preparation for the event was basically completed as of September 20.

Athletes will vie for 165 sets of medals in 14 categories, including: Aquatics (Marathon Swimming and Water Polo); Beach Kabaddi; Beach Soccer; Beach Volleyball; Beach Handball; 3x3 Basketball; Beach Sepak takraw; Beach Martial Arts (Wrestling, Sambo, Jujitsu, Kurash, Pencak Silat, Vovinam, Muay Thai, Vietnamese Traditional Martial Arts); Beach Badminton; Beach Petanque; Beach Bodybuilding; Woodball; Rowing and Athletics.

The event's mascot features a salangane, a typical bird of the southern central coast of Vietnam , while the logo is designed to represent sand and waves in the shape of young, healthy and dynamic athletes playing sports with the Olympic Council of Asia’s symbol inside.

The East Sea Park , My Khe beach, Son Thuy seaside resort, and intersection between Pham Van Dong and Vo Nguyen Giap streets were selected to be the competition venues.

The games were initiated by the Olympic Council of Asia and held for the first time in Indonesia ’s Bali in 2008.

VNA