The 2017 Yunlin County Annual Games kick started at 8:30 am on the 15th of July at the Yunlin Dounan Field. Led by Magistrate Li Jinyong, the opening ceremony saw the delivery of the game torch to light the flame for the Games. Subsequently, all athletes and referees swear oaths for an honest competition. Across the county, there are 20 township/cities coming to this year’s games, totaling 3600 athletes participating. Graced with two days (July 15th and 16th) of wonderful weather, the games consisted of 17 different competitions spanning across the two days. Magistrate Li Jinyong welcomed everyone to spectate and show support for their town.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Magistrate Li Jinyong expressed his gratitude to all locals, supporters and athletes alike, who took time out of their weekends to participate in the event. Teams will be selected from the results of the competitions to represent Yunlin at the National Games this year. The Yunlin Games is a great chance for athletes to push their limits and break their personal records and strive to succeed further on a National stage.
Magistrate Li also used this opportunity to announce the renovation for Douliu Baseball Stadium is underway. The A-grade baseball stadium is expected to finish renovations October next year, hoping the stadium becomes the best in the nation. The stadium will be looking for a baseball team to represent Yunlin County Stadium as a home club. Additional to the County Stadium, gymnasiums and other sports venues have also recently been refurbished. These improvements and construction of these sports venues is an aspiration from Yunlin to provide fellow county friends with the best sports and leisure venues to nurture athletes with the best training and competition venues.
On the morning of 15th July, 7:30 am, the Yunlin Game’s torch was lit by Education Department Director Liang Enjia, County Councilman Cai Dongfu at the Dounan Shun An Gong. The honor of delivering the torch was given to two Dounan High School athletes, Zhang Liling and Zhang Lirong. These two athletes were teammates in the team that won the Gold medal for this year’s National Junior High 400-meter relay. Taiwan Sports University student, Yu Chenyi, was selected to represent all athletes to swear the sportsman oath. Mr. Yu displayed an outstanding performance at this year’s Asia Cup Championship 1600 meters relay, where he broke the national record and became the 1600-meter relay champion.
The opening ceremony was graced by performances from Shiliu Junior High Dance club and Zhongshan Primary School dance club. Special guests such as Legislator Liu Jianguo, County Councilors; Cai Dongfu, Chen Shuji, Lin Yuezhang, 20 township Mayors, Yunlin Secretary-General Huang Yu Shuang and many other Bureau Directors all turned up to the opening ceremony to show their support.