The Chinese Canoe Association has underlined its ambitions to become a global powerhouse in the sport, with the National Federation hoping for close collaboration with the International Canoe Federation to bring more events to the country.
This year, China hosted three events on the trot, starting with the ICF Hangzhou Super Cup, the ICF Canoe Polo World Championships in Deqing and the ICF Dragon Boat World Cup in Yichang, which started today.
However, CCA President Tong Lixin said that it was less than they had initially planned and that they want to make full use of the country's rich water resources.
“We would like to cooperate closely with the ICF to host more events and help develop paddle sports in China further. We will host more events locally like the China Open and would like to have more events with ICF,” Mr Tong said.
“We are excited to host the ICF Board meeting in Hangzhou next year and hope we can finalise the plans for a paddle summit to be held before that. We want to collaborate with the new office and do more events.”
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games saw China finish with two gold medals in canoeing thanks to Hao Liu and Bowen Ji in the men's canoe double 500m and the sensational pairing of Mengya Sun and Shixiao Xu in the women's C2 200m.
China also had three athletes that competed in Canoe Slalom, with two of them participating in kayak cross, which made its debut at the level.
However, the Asian nation did not make it to the podium, with the best result coming from Xin Quan, who reached the final of the men's kayak single, finishing eleventh.
“It's a shame that China participated in Canoe Slalom at the Olympic Games six times already but we have not won a medal yet,” Mr Tong added.
“We have 10 professional slalom courses and many athletes. We want to get foreign coaches in to maximise that potential. More events at the highest level will help us achieve that and improve our performances.”
The CCA is also keen on using state-of-the-art facilities in the country to invite athletes from around the globe for training.
The Super Cup in Hangzhou saw paddlers praising the Fuyang Water Sports Centre, which was built for the 2022 Asian Games, with some of them, especially from Europe suggesting using the venue as a summer training base.
Mr Tong supported the cause, saying it would be a great opportunity for Chinese athletes to train and learn from the best.
“We have great facilities for hosting ranking events. We want international athletes from Europe and Oceania and all continents to come here for high-performance training,” he said.
“The next two Olympic Games are happening outside Europe, and it would be great if we could have more ICF events in Asia and especially China.”
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