Ms. Joan Smit, Secretary General of Namibia National Olympic Committee,

Mr. Reinhard Stanley, President of NTTA,

All players, Media friends,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good evening!

I am very delighted to attend this first-ever Namibia-China Friendship Table Tennis Cup Final. It is with your support and enthusiasm that this tournament could come true. Today, we are going to witness with passion the most exciting part of the game- the final.

Like art, sport is another common language of human being. Nelson Mandela said, sport is the gift from God to humanity. It could not only make you strong and pleasant, but also give you the gift of perserverance and the right attitude on life, enhancing the exchanges between different nations.

Table tennis is one of the most popular games in China. The significance of table tennis to China is just like the basketball to the US and the soccer to the Latin America and Europe. To some degree, table tennis could be called the Chinese national sport, not only because Chinese players perform well in the international games, but also because it roots in the ordinary people. No matter male or female, old or young, everyone seems able to play ping pang. No matter the indoor professional table or outdoor brick table, nothing could stop the passion for ping pang.

China-Namibia traditional friendship dates back to 1960s. It could be further consolidated through cultural exchanges. In recent years, we witnessed apparent increase of the cultural and sport exchanges between our two countries. I am so glad to see that, although rugby and soccer are still the most popular sports in Namibia, there are more and more Namibian people loving and promoting table tennis. Among the Chinese people in Namibia, there are also hidden dragons of ping pang. With all your passionate support and promotion, here comes the first Namibia-China Table Tennis Cup, through which we will harvest physical excise, joy, communication and friendship. This is also our intention of organizing this tournament.

To conclude, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank NTTA on behalf of the Chinese Embassy, for your great passion and efforts throughout the organizing process. We will use it as a new start point to further promote sport exchanges between Namibia and China. Last but not the least, I hope everyone enjoys the game tonight and wish all the players wonderful performance.

Thank you!