15 May, 2017
AGU poised to spring ideas for better and more fan-friendly competitions: Saoud
AGU Office: BANGKOK (THA) May 15, 2017 – Caught up in the spirit of innovation, the Asian Gymnastics Union is set to spring new ideas in making its major events such as the Asian Seniors Artistic Gymnastics and Asian Juniors Artistic Gymnastics Championship more attractive for both athletes and fans alike.
“We want to make these popular events event better and more organized to attract the best athletes and more fans to our beautiful Olympic sport,” said AGU Technical Manager Anis Saoud on Monday on the eve of the 7th Asian Seniors and 14th Asian Juniors Artistics Championships here.
“When you have the Asian championships it is like a mini world championships because we feature some of the world’s best athletes in our competitions,” the amiable Saoud pointed out of the huge potential of their centerpiece tournaments.
As part of the AGU’s new four-year plan in attracting a new generation of gymnastics fans in the continent and beyond, he said that this year’s competitions held at the spacious Nimibutr Gymnasium within the Thai National Stadium Sports Complex will be recorded on video and posted on the organization’s website (http://www.agu-gymnastics.com).
“We will be recording the highlights of both our competitions by video here and post them on our AGUdwebsite,” he said. “Next time we will be do live video streaming so our fans throughout Asia can witness our events live wherever they are. We want these events to be accessible online”
The hardworking Tunisian AGU official bared that under AGU President Abdulrahman Al-Shathri of Qatar, the AGU is taking more steps in promoting and popularizing the dynamic the dynamic and visually sport throughout the Asian region.
Along this line, the AGU for the first time is offering modest cash prizes to team and individual winners in the Asian Seniors competitions, he disclosed.
“For example, we will be offering $1,000 to the team champions in the seniors competitions. We will distribute $14,100 in cash prizes to our winning gymnasts here,” said Saoud. “It may appear small now but we plan to raise the prize money in the future because we want the best and brightest gymnasts to take part in our events.
“We foresee these competitions to be our showcase for our sport as we attract more sponsors and we continue to grow.”
He underlined that AGU’s policies and directions were on the right path by pointing out that the Asian Seniors has drawn 20 participating countries and 24 for the Asian Juniors, both records, as well as rise in the number of athletes in both competitions.
Saoud also took the opportunity to congratulate the officials of the Gymnastics Association of Thailand led by President Mr. Srayuth Pathanasak in hosting both tournaments simultaneously.
“We know the difficulties in hosting these competitions at the same time so we would like to congratulate the Gymnastics Association of Thailand for being prepared in conducting them,” he noted. “We look forward to a successful staging of both tournaments.”
Saoud added that whatever shortcomings the Thai hosts might have “our athletes should learn to adjust because whether it is a good or bad situation they must learn to cope with the conditions. It is part of their growing experience.”
“We want to make these popular events event better and more organized to attract the best athletes and more fans to our beautiful Olympic sport,” said AGU Technical Manager Anis Saoud on Monday on the eve of the 7th Asian Seniors and 14th Asian Juniors Artistics Championships here.
“When you have the Asian championships it is like a mini world championships because we feature some of the world’s best athletes in our competitions,” the amiable Saoud pointed out of the huge potential of their centerpiece tournaments.
As part of the AGU’s new four-year plan in attracting a new generation of gymnastics fans in the continent and beyond, he said that this year’s competitions held at the spacious Nimibutr Gymnasium within the Thai National Stadium Sports Complex will be recorded on video and posted on the organization’s website (http://www.agu-gymnastics.com).
“We will be recording the highlights of both our competitions by video here and post them on our AGUdwebsite,” he said. “Next time we will be do live video streaming so our fans throughout Asia can witness our events live wherever they are. We want these events to be accessible online”
The hardworking Tunisian AGU official bared that under AGU President Abdulrahman Al-Shathri of Qatar, the AGU is taking more steps in promoting and popularizing the dynamic the dynamic and visually sport throughout the Asian region.
Along this line, the AGU for the first time is offering modest cash prizes to team and individual winners in the Asian Seniors competitions, he disclosed.
“For example, we will be offering $1,000 to the team champions in the seniors competitions. We will distribute $14,100 in cash prizes to our winning gymnasts here,” said Saoud. “It may appear small now but we plan to raise the prize money in the future because we want the best and brightest gymnasts to take part in our events.
“We foresee these competitions to be our showcase for our sport as we attract more sponsors and we continue to grow.”
He underlined that AGU’s policies and directions were on the right path by pointing out that the Asian Seniors has drawn 20 participating countries and 24 for the Asian Juniors, both records, as well as rise in the number of athletes in both competitions.
Saoud also took the opportunity to congratulate the officials of the Gymnastics Association of Thailand led by President Mr. Srayuth Pathanasak in hosting both tournaments simultaneously.
“We know the difficulties in hosting these competitions at the same time so we would like to congratulate the Gymnastics Association of Thailand for being prepared in conducting them,” he noted. “We look forward to a successful staging of both tournaments.”
Saoud added that whatever shortcomings the Thai hosts might have “our athletes should learn to adjust because whether it is a good or bad situation they must learn to cope with the conditions. It is part of their growing experience.”
