25th SEA Games, Laos

The Lao Telecommunication Company (TLC) launched its 3G phone service to serve mobile users, Lao newspaper the Vientiane Times reported Friday.

With the new service, Lao mobile phone users can now have continuous connection to the Internet with data transfer up to 114Kbps, said the newspaper. Customers are able to send and receive emails, download music, play games, and watch television.

The service is targeted at businessmen and young people, said the newspaper.

Modern and global standard telecommunication systems are vital to the economy of Laos as they help enhance the country's competitiveness in commerce and trade, according to the newspaper.

TLC expects to supply 20,000 3G sim cards just to visitors coming to Laos for the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) events scheduled to be held in the country later this year, said the newspaper.

Currently, it provides telephone coverage to over 80 percent of the Laos population

Photo: Ms Thibphakone Southammavong trains at the Lao Table Tennis Federation club.

The Lao table tennis team will struggle to win medals at the 25th SEA Games in Vientiane this December due to a lack of training, according to a senior official.

Secretary General of the Lao Table Tennis Federation, Mrs Somchay Vongsa, said if the national players trained regularly and competed in more international tournaments, they may have a chance of winning medals at the SEA Games in 2011.

The team has been training at the federation's club since last August.

Sixteen members of the team are training in Vientiane , while a further three are training in Bangkok , Thailand .

The squad is being guided by coaches from China , Thailand and Laos in the lead-up to the games.

Mrs Vongsa said the Lao government plans to support the federation by spending more than US$100,000 on six tables for training and a further six tables for competition, as well as some other international standard equipment from Sweden.

The federation will host the table tennis event at the National University of Laos.

The younger members of the Lao team gained some experience after competing in the 15th South East Asia Junior Championships in Bangkok , Thailand , on June 23.

Other players competed in the All Thailand table tennis tournament from June 27-29, which consisted of U-12 and open divisions.

The All Thailand event is held five times a year. The federation will send five men and five women to compete at other events in July and August.

Mrs Vongsa said the Lao team will gain good experience from the tournament, which attracts the best players in Thailand .

The federation also plans to send national players to other international tournaments in neighbouring countries before the games begin, Mrs Vongsa said.

Next year, the federation will encourage students at lower and upper secondary schools in Vientiane to take up table tennis in an effort to boost national stocks of talented players.

One member of the national team, Ms Thibphakone Southammavong, is a 21-year-old student at the Faculty of Engineering of the National University of Laos.

Ms Thibphakone said the Singaporean, Thai, Vietnamese and Indonesian teams were very strong and included some of the best players in the world.

She said while the Lao squad may have a chance of winning a medal in the team event (three players) at the SEA Games, they will struggle for success in singles and doubles events.

Ms Thibphakone began playing table tennis in primary school and has gone on to represent her country several times. She won three gold medals in the doubles, team and mixed doubles events at the eighth National Games in Champassak province last December.

She was unsuccessful in medal attempts at the 22nd SEA Games in Vietnam in 2003 and the 24th SEA Games in Thailand in 2007, which she attributed to nerves and lack of experience at the international level.

By Sangkhomsay Bubphanouvong
Vientianetimes

(KPL) The 25th SEA Games Committee for Accommodation, Food, Decoration and tourism is in need of financial support to cater to the domestic and foreign visitors as well as athletes, and they would boost the local economy by spending as much as four billion kip.

Deputy Mayor of Vientiane, Somvandy Nathavong, who is in charge of this committee, revealed that regarding the hosting of this sporting event here, the Lao government is making an effort to strengthen the solidarity, culture, economy and friendship among the participating countries.

He said this when he to the Vientiane executive broad on 24 April on the progress of the preparation for the upcoming 25th SEA Games, to be held in Vientiane at the end of this year.

He said that the cost of the preparatory work for his committee is 4.8 billion kip.
At the present, 70 hotels in five districts in Vientaine Capital are considered fit to accommodate the visitors and athletes, he said to the executive board.

ORGANIZERS of the 25th Southeast Asian Games in Laos, which will be hosting the games for the first time, said they need at least two more months to complete the construction of the venues and other facilities.

This was according to Deputy Prime Minister and chairman of the 25th SEA Games Organizing Committee Somsavat Lengsavad and senior LNSC officials following an ocular inspection they conducted on the main stadium, the golf course, the main access roads and the Athletes’ Village.

Work was supposed to be finished by March, but according to the Games’ official Web site, the Chinese and Korean companies involved in the construction work are having a difficult time completing the job at the main venue in the Saythany district.

The foreign contractors said the delay was caused by several factors, one of which is the dry summer season, which is not suitable for growing grass inside the football stadium. The grass will only be planted in June, which is the start of the rainy season.

Also, the land around the golf course have yet to be cleared because “some people have yet to leave their homes to make way for the construction.”

Lao Golf Federation president Songkham Silaphets said the course would be completed in May, “as long as plans don’t change.”

Meanwhile, the access road is reportedly 75 percent complete and will be landscaped by May, while engineers from the two companies said it is also difficult to dig drainage channels and install electricity around the main stadium and other venues, prompting Somsavat to ask the Ministry of Public Works and Transport committee to cooperate with the contractors regarding these problems.

More than 400 Lao workers are involved in the construction at a cost of more than $100 million.

A ceremony to hand over the stadium to the Lao government will take place in September.

The 25 events of the 2009 SEA Games to be held in Vientiane in December will be scattered around the eight stadiums. Peter Atencio

www.manilastandardtoday.com

Laos will host 26 sports in SEA Games



KUALA LUMPUR: The Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) have clarified that Laos will host 26 sports and not 25 in the SEA Games from Dec 9-18.

The OCM secretary general, Datuk Sieh Kok Chi, said that recent reports were wrong and gave a picture that some sports had been dropped arbitrarily by the hosts.

“Some even claim that archery, cycling and weightlifting were omitted from the programme of the 25th Games in Vientiane,” he said.

“At the last SEA Games Federation Council meeting on Nov 13, the final list of sports and events approved and announced were 25 sports and 390 events. This is wrong as the Games organising committee had wrongly included soft tennis as part of tennis. Soft tennis has to be considered a different sport from tennis because it comes under the jurisdiction of a different international federation. Hence the total number of sports in the Games is 26 and 390 events.”

Kok Chi added that for archery, there will be eight events — four more than in the Olympic Games with the inclusion of the compound bows competitions for men’s and women’s team and individual.

“There will be no track cycling events as Laos do not have a velodrome but road cycling and mountain bike racing have been included with a total of eight gold medals at stake,” he said.

“The hosts have not taken advantage of selecting sports in which they are strong in because irrespective of what sports they choose, Laos will not be among the top five in the final medal standings.

“The sports dropped are based on non-availability of international standard competition venues, lack of equipment, the non-existence of their national sports associations for a large number of sports, insufficient internationally qualified judges and technical officials and insufficient human and financial resources.”

Basketball and waterpolo may still be included as there are discussions on the Philippines and Singapore to fund them at the Games.

The sports in the Games programme are athletics, archery, swimming, badminton, billiards and snooker, boxing, cycling, football, golf, judo, karate, sepak takraw, shooting, soft tennis, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, volleyball, wrestling, weightlifting, wushu, muay thai, petanque, silat, shuttlecock and fin swimming.

SOurce: thestar

The 25th SEA Games stadium will be used for an inauguration of 2009 SEA Games hosted by Laos, is confirmed that it would be completed in timely manner, said a senior official is responsible for the construction.

The new football stadium where the opening and closing ceremonies of the games will take place is 65-80 percent complete, the indoor stadium is 90 percent complete, the petanque field is 80 percent complete and the taekwondo court is 95 percent complete

“Laos has enough budget for the construction of 25th SEA Games stadium, thanks to the financial support of Chinese Development Bank worth about US$ 80 million,” Meanwhile the Government has already made a decision to fork out a minimum of 69 billion kip to improve old existed stadiums in Vientiane Capital. All of them would be used for the football competition.

The construction work is under laying out water pipe system, land clearance and road construction access to the stadium, which expects to be completed before inauguration on December 2009.

The Laos National Sports Complex is located about 20 Km from the centre of Vientiane City and comprises a 20,000 seating capacity main stadium, a 2,000 seating capacity indoor aquatics complex, with a outdoor warm-up pool, a Tennis centre consisting of 2,000 seating capacity centre court plus 6 other tennis court, two indoor stadiums each with seating capacity of 3,000 and a indoor shooting range with 50 seats.

The sports complex is in a sprawling 185 ha site, with an Olympic Park, adequate parking lots, lakes and open spaces. An archery centre could be constructed in the open space next to the shooting range. There is adequate space for a trap and skeet range to be added later, if required.

“The stadium will be competed three months in advance in order to inspect its standard,” Mr Khiengkham stated further.

The 2009 SEA Games in Laos is being kept over eyes on from many countries.



Scale model of the Laos national Sports Complex. The indoor aquatics complex is the the foreground, with the tennis centre on its right (marked as 6). The National Stadium with the warm-up track on its left. The two indoor stadia are on the right of the National Stadium, and are marked as 3 & 4. The shooting range is at the top of the model. The Olympic Park is at the top of the model.

A football stadium in Vientiane to be used for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 25th SEA Games will be finished by March next year, according to officials.

The stadium is currently 70 percent complete. The Chairman of the 25th SEA Games Organising Committee is Standing Deputy Prime Minister Somsavat Lengsavad. Mr Somsavat, ministry officials and senior officials from the Lao National Sports Committee (LNSC) surveyed progress on construction of the site in Vientiane yesterday. Mr Somsavat said construction was on schedule and officials were pleased the facilities would be ready in time for the games.

The football stadium must be finished by July next year, under an agreement signed by the LNSC and construction companies. The Industrial Park Overseas Investment Co Ltd, China Yunnan Construction Engineering Group Corporation and China Development Bank are undertaking construction of the sporting facilities.

Mr Somsavat said the football stadium was an indication of the cooperation relationship between Laos and China and he believed athletes from other countries would be impressed by the facilities. He said officials were confident Laos would host a successful event, thanks to the support of China.

Industrial Park Overseas Investment and China Yunnan Construction Engineering Group have employed more than 1,200 personnel from China and 400 Lao labourers to work at the site. All the sporting arenas will meet requirements as stipulated by the Asian Athletic Federation. In addition to the football stadium, athletes’ accommodation, two multipurpose indoor stadiums, tennis courts, a shooting field, an archery field and a swimming pool are all being built on 1,000 hectares of land in Dongsanghin village, Xaythany district, 16km south of the city centre.

A contract for the construction of the main stadium was signed between the Lao government and the China Development Bank in Vientiane in April 2007. The two Chinese construction companies have agreed to lease the land for 50 years from the Lao government. At the end of this period the facility will be handed back to the Lao people. Construction of the complex is projected to cost US$100 million. Mr Somsavat and his delegation visited the athletes’ dormitory at the National University of Laos’ Dongdok campus, which is currently about 15 percent complete and on track for completion in June next year. The taekwondo training centre at the National University of Laos is being built with funding assistance of US$300,000 from the Booyoung Company of the Republic of Korea. The Lao national taekwondo team will begin training at the centre in preparation for the SEA Games as soon as construction is complete.

The LNSC will use the centre to host future national and provincial taekwondo, wrestling and other martial arts events.

Vientianetimes

Under the original plan, the organising committee proposed Vientiane be the main venue for the games, with Champassak and Luang Prabang provinces hosting some events.

The technical committee has now said the government has decided all events will take place in Vientiane and the organising committee has now allocated venues for each sport.

A technical committee official, Mr Phouvane Vongsouthi, told the media the organising committee had called off plans for events to be organised in Champassak and Luang Prabang provinces because of budget constraints.

The organising committee said recent heavy flooding around the country had caused a great deal of damage and money that had been allocated for the SEA Games had been diverted to help flood victims. Committee members had decided not to continue with the construction of SEA Games facilities in the provinces, but to hold all the events in Vientiane .

The organising committee confirmed preparations for the SEA Games were on schedule and said all the venues would be ready on time.

The committee says athletics, swimming, diving, water polo, badminton, golf, shooting, volleyball, tennis and archery events will take place at the new sports complex being built at Km 16 in Dongsanghin village, Xaythany district.

Table tennis matches will take place at the National University of Laos (NUOL) indoor court and taekwondo and wrestling events will also be held at the campus, in the Booyoung indoor stadium.

Pétanque matches will be at the Dongdok campus and boxing bouts will take place in the Olympasia indoor stadium at the campus.

Sepak takraw, wushu and pencak silat events will be held at the Lao International Trade Exhibition and Convention Centre.

Football matches will be played at four different venues: the National Stadium in Anou village, Chanthabouly district; the new stadium at Km 16; the NUOL stadium and the Army stadium at Km 5.

Judo and karatedo athletes will compete at the Chao-anouvong indoor stadium in Anou village.

Kick-boxing and shuttlecock events will take place at the Vientiane Sports Department in Beungkhayong village, Sisattanak district.

Billiards and snooker will be played at the Don Chan Palace .

These plans will be reviewed at a meeting of the SEA Games Council to take place in Vientiane from November 11-13. The meeting will be attended by representatives of various Southeast Asian sporting bodies.

The people of Laos are preparing to welcome visitors to Laos to cheer on their teams at the games. The games are held to build a bridge of friendship among all South East Asian nations.

By Sisay Vilaysack
Vientianetimes

Photo: New stadium for 25th SEA Games in Vientiane, Laos

(KPL) Laos has announced a series of venues for the 25th SEA Games, which will be held in the country at the end of next year.

Most of the infrastructure for the games are now under construction, said Chairman of the Lao National Sports Committee Phouthong Seng-akhom on July 15.

The main stadium is being built in Saythany district, 16 km south of Vientiane Capital, at a cost of over 100 million USD. Another three stadiums are also under construction in Luang Prabang, Savannakhet and Champassak provinces.

Besides, Laos has arranged four more sporting facilities in Vientiane for the 25th SEA Games.

The Southeast Asia’s largest sporting event, is scheduled in Laos in December, 2009, with 25 sporting events.

The National University of Laos is planning to build dormitories to accommodate the 4,000 athletes from 11 countries who will take part in the SEA Games, which Laos will host next year.

“We are waiting for a budget allocation from the government for construction of the dormitories before we start work,” the university's Vice President for Student Affairs, Professor Lammai Phiphakkhavong, said yesterday.

The Lao government will cooperate on the project with a construction company from Vietnam , according to an agreement by the two countries.

“We will be ready to provide accommodation for the athletic teams when the dormitories are built,” Professor Lammai said.

A 5.3 hectare site is available at the university for the dormitories and a car park.

Students will be able to live in the dormitories once the SEA Games have ended.

The Lao National Sports Committee and government organisations will also provide athletes with accommodation in hotels and guesthouses in Vientiane .

Champassak and Luang Prabang provinces are also taking steps to secure accommodation for athletics teams and visitors. These provinces will host the games' football matches.

The sports committee will open a Sports Training Centre in Sikhottabong district, Vientiane , in December, where Lao athletes will live and train in preparation for the games.

Construction of the training centre began in January and is due for completion towards the end of this year.

The Vietnamese government assisted in funding the project, providing more than 35 billion kip (US$4 million) to the sports committee.

Officials from the governments of Laos and Vietnam attended a stone-laying ceremony on May 19 last year in Sikeuth village, Naxaithong district, to mark the agreement on the construction of the training centre.

Source: Vientianetimes