Cambodia holds National Games for only the third time

The Morodok Techo National Stadium in Phnom Penh and related facilities were awash with sports activities the past two weeks, with Cambodia holding its National Games for only the third time since the early 1990s. 

In addition to the new stadium, the provinces/cities of Kampot, Kep, Preah Sihanouk and Siem Reap also played a hosting role in the 3^rd National Games & 1st Paralympic Games, the biggest sports event in the country.

Apparently owing to difficulties related to funding, facilities, etc, Cambodia was not able to hold the National Games for long stretches from the 1990s until 2016. 

What are the National Games?

The first National Games was held in 2016, followed by the second one in 2018. The third one was supposed to be held in 2020, but the Covid-19 pandemic, pushing for it to be staged from November 19 to 30 this year. 

This year’s National Games also marks the first time that Paralympic sports were included in the agenda. 

The past editions only involved basketball, volleyball, kun khmer, table tennis and other traditional sports. 

The just-concluded Games included 38 regular sports, among them petanque, table tennis, soft tennis, weightlifting, kun bokator, swimming, dancesports, vovinam, sailing, basketball, volleyball, tennis, boxing, triathlon, baseball, kun khmer, football, cycling, chess, gymnastics, karate, ju-jitsu, dancesports, judo, traditional, golf, wrestling, boat race and taekwondo.

The Paralympic sports that made the list include boccia, wheelchair basketball, swimming, volleyball and table tennis. 

The number of sports included was more than double than in 2016, where only 14 disciplines made the cut. 

Cricket in Cambodia

Cricket made its first appearance in any National Games.

This new development came after Cambodia became a member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in July. 

The ICC, the global governing body for cricket, accepted Cambodia’s application to become an associate member on the condition that it will establish women’s cricket by the end of 2022. 

The cricket side of the National Games involved a women’s competition, which the team from Siem Reap won. The second to third places went to Phnom Penh and Kampong Thom, respectively. 

This is historic both for us and for Cambodia,” a top official of the Cricket Federation of Cambodia (CFC) exclaimed earlier. 

The National Games involved teams and athletes from Cambodia’s 25 provinces and various government offices/ ministries. 

Prime Minister Hun Sen was among the top government officials who graced the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games. Minister of Education, Youth and Sports Hang Chuon Naron, NOCC Secretary-General Vath Chamroeun and Tourism Minister/Cambodian SEA Games Organizing Committee (CAMSOC) Vice Chairman Thong Khon also attended the ceremonies, which included a martial arts demonstration and dance performances among its highlights. 

Ministry of Interior dominates medal race

Per the announcement made by the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC), the Ministry of Interior topped the medal count (214), which consists of 104 golds, 61 silvers and 49 bronze medals. 

The MOI was dominant in kun khmer, among other sports. 

The Ministry of Interior has long been dominant in Cambodia’s sports scene, having won the National Championships in petanque, table tennis, badminton and many other sports the past few years. 

Second place went to the Ministry of Defense (124 medals), which copped 60 golds, 33 silvers and 31 bronze medals. 

The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF) bagged the third spot (77 medals). The MOEF tally included 29 golds, 24 silvers and 24 bronze medals. 

The provinces were relegated to the fourth and fifth places, with Prey Veng leading the way. The Prey Veng team brought back a total of 74 medals, including 17 golds, 28 silvers and 29 bronze medals. The first spot went to Siem Reap, which garnered 15 golds, 22 silvers and 21 bronze medals, for a grand total of 58 medals. 

The provinces did better in the Paralympics side, with Kandal claiming the top spot with 28 medals (15 golds, 4 silvers and 9 bronze medals). Svay Rieng was a distant second with 13 medals to boot (7 golds, 5 silvers and 1 bronze medal).