We are ready for the Asian Games!

June 15 is the 100-day countdown to the Hangzhou Asian Games. As the preparatory work enters the “sprint” stage, all gazes in Asia, even in the whole world, will be fixed on Hangzhou.

The men’s basketball competition in the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games will be held in Zijingang Gymnasium at Zhejiang University. We will strive to provide optimal operations and services. At this critical stage, we have geared up for the Asian Games in the hope of writing a unique chapter belonging to Zhejiang University.

Zijingang Gymnasium, which covers an area of nearly 17,000 square meters, was completed at the end of March, 2021. Next to the main competition venue are two warm-up venues. A 140-meter corridor is erected between the competition venue and the warmup venues so as to facilitate the passage of basketball players. The most striking is the transparent ceiling in the competition venue, so designed that energy can be saved and emissions reduced, as natural light is enough to meet lighting needs in the daytime. Moreover, a number of “magical” cameras are installed to perform intelligent monitoring, as a result of which every subtle movement of a basketball player during the game can be captured and replayed in real-time.

Zhejiang University has also set up a specialized team to ensure the smooth operation of the Asian Games venue. The team has received rigorous training in various forms and opened their arms to the Asian Games in welcome. Under the guidance of the Asian Games Organizing Committee, Zhejiang University has hosted several trial matches in accordance with the specific standards for the Asian Games. In April this year, the 25th China University Basketball League Division I (CUBAL) qualifiers in the Southeast Region were played here. In these games, the team carried out a series of tests once again in a bid to complete every step perfectly and improve the venue operation capability, therefore accumulating useful practical experience for the Asian Games. Raffi Kassabian, a FIBA Asia official and a technical representative of the Asian Games basketball game, lauded Zhejiang University’s fantastic preparatory work during his inspection tour.

More than 2,000 volunteers from Zhejiang University will participate in the Asian Games. They will showcase their passion and talent in Zijigang Gymnasium, Olympic Family hotels, the Main Media Center. To this end, Zhejiang University has launched a customized enhancement program for international literacy and rolled out a corresponding badge incentive system based on the design elements of the Asian Games and Zhejiang University.

The 19th Asian Games are a grand event for every citizen in Hangzhou. This year, Zhejiang University has organized a wide spectrum of activities, in which students and faculty alike have actively participated. They have shown genuine enthusiasm for supporting, participating in and serving the Asian Games.

With elaborate preparations, we’re confident that we can deliver a “new business card” to Asia. Let’s meet at Zhejiang University when it is autumn-tinged.

Photo credit: ZHU Yuanzhi, CHEN Shuai, WU Chenge, ZENG Xushu, ZHAO Jialing, ZHOU Yichen, ZHAO Can, ZJU's Department of Public Physcial and Art Education,ZJU's Staff Union