China Nanhai Jiujiang defended their titles and set new records at Saturday’s grand finals in the Open and Women’s categories of the Macao International Invitation Standard Dragon Boat Race (500m) in the 2025 SJM Macao International Dragon Boat Races.
Held at the Nam Van Lake Nautical Centre, the races took place during the Tung Ng Festival (端午節, aka Dragon Boat Festival), and featured teams from Macau, the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Egypt, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand vying for top prizes.
China Nanhai Jiujiang competed against six other teams in the Open category’s grand final, coming out on top and setting a new event record at 1:48.673, the Sports Bureau (ID) said in a statement on the same day. In second place was the “Macao, China Selection Team” with a time of 1:50.514, followed by the “Hong Kong, China Team” at 1:53.227.
In the Women’s category, China Nanhai Jiujiang again finished first and broke the event record at 1:58.156. The Thailand National Team came in at second place at 1:59.341, while in third place was the “Hong Kong, China Team”, which finished with a time of 2:06.250.
Meanwhile, the day also featured the Macao University Student Invitation Standard Dragon Boat Race (500m), during which the Thailand National Sports University claimed the top spot at 1:54.881. The second and third spots were taken by the Foshan University and “Nanyang Technological University, Singapore” teams respectively at 1:56.578 and 1:57.457.
The teams that fell short of qualifying for the grand final competed in various divisions, according to the statement.
The award ceremony was officiated by various guests and representatives including Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai; Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao SAR Zheng Xincong, Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the Macao SAR Liu Xianfa; Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Wallis O Lam; Executive Council member Chan Chak Mo; ID President Luís Gomes; and SJM Managing Director Daisy Ho Chiu Fung.
Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai (right) presents a silk banner to a representative of the winning team of the standard dragon boat race under the Open category of the 2025 Macao International Dragon Boat Races, China Nanhai Jiujiang, at Nam Van Lake Nautical Centre on Saturday. – Photo: ID
