The first Yangtze River Delta Wrestling Classic opened in Lin’an, Sheng Jiang “screamed” for the Asian Games in his hometown
On April 29th, the 2023 China Sports Lottery’s first Yangtze River Delta Wrestling Classic kicked off in Gaohong Town, Lin’an District, Hangzhou. There were not only 5 Greco-Roman wrestling professional sports teams from Zhejiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, and Jiangxi , dedicated a high-level event to the local people, and even Olympic gold, silver and bronze medalists Wang Jiao, Chang Yongxiang, Sheng Zetian and Asian Championship champion Sun Yanan and other heavyweights in the Chinese wrestling world helped out.
Why can this competition held in a small town attract half of the Chinese wrestling world? Behind all of this, it is inseparable from the efforts of one person. He is Sheng Jiang, the Beijing Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling bronze medalist and the current coach of the Chinese wrestling team. Gao Hongzhen is his hometown.
When the reporter interviewed Sheng Jiang, he had just finished his “on-site teaching”. The objects of his guidance were not athletes from the national team or the provincial team, but a dozen or so 10-year-old children. For the sport of wrestling, some of them had already I have practiced for two years, and some have only been in contact for a few months. These children come from Gaohong Town Primary School, which is a traditional martial arts education school. Not long ago, a new wrestling hall was built, trying to further expand wrestling events, improve the school’s characteristic martial arts brand, and create a strong atmosphere for Asian Games sports culture.
“A primary school in a mountain town has a wrestling team, which is relatively rare in the whole country.” Sheng Jiang said that the development of any project needs to lay the foundation. Children broaden their horizons, further arouse their interest through contact with champions, and encourage them to continue to work hard on the training ground; on the other hand, it also allows the local people to see the dividends brought by sports events to rural development, and do a good job of “sports + tourism” Promote economic development.
Sheng Jiang said: “I have always hoped to make some contributions to my hometown in the form of sports.” He said what he said. Although he coached the national team and provincial team all the year round and led the players around, he never left his hometown. Actively build Shengjiang Wrestling Park in Gaohong Town to help the rural development of characteristic sports tourism industries.
Especially since Lin’an was determined to be the venue for the wrestling event of the Hangzhou Asian Games, Shengjiang has been working hard for Lin’an to host wrestling events for several years, and has used his personal influence to invite leaders of the Chinese Wrestling Association to Lin’an for field inspections. This time, he was very relieved to see the villagers packed the cultural auditorium where the competition venue was located.
Facing the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou, Sheng Jiang, who has already taken up the coaching position, is very much looking forward to his disciples achieving breakthrough results in the Asian Games held at home in China. According to him, due to the impact of the epidemic in recent years, the Chinese wrestling team has not had many opportunities to go out to compete, but overall it still has strong competitiveness in Asia. Last year, his apprentice Torbatu won the bronze medal at the World Championships, which made him more confident in the Asian Games.
“I hope that the Chinese team can show their best side in the local battle, dedicate a wonderful game to the folks and elders at home, and strive to surpass the results of the last Asian Games.” Sheng Jiang said that he will invite more friends at that time Come to Hangzhou, watch wrestling matches in his hometown, and build momentum for the Hangzhou Asian Games.
Lin’an is the venue for the Hangzhou Asian Games Taekwondo and Wrestling. In recent years, Lin’an has comprehensively promoted the coordinated development of mass sports, competitive sports, sports industry, and sports culture, and strived to create a new situation in the development of sports. On the eve of the Asian Games, a series of high-level events followed one after another, and we made every effort to ensure the safe and orderly development of the events, warm up and train for the Asian Games, and ensure high-quality completion of the Asian Games tasks.