Municipalities' role in hosting sports events evident in Hangzhou Asian Games: Iranian official

TEHRAN, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- A senior Iranian sports official was impressed by the fact that municipalities shouldering the responsibility to host large scale sports competition in China.

Secretary-General of Iran's National Olympic Committee (NOC) Seyed Manaf Hashemi said on Monday that the Hangzhou Asian Games very well demonstrated the role of municipalities and the urban management sector in hosting sports events.

Hashemi said an interesting fact that attracted his attention during the Hangzhou Asian Games was that municipalities and mayors were the real hosts of the competitions as they shouldered the main responsibilities and made considerable efforts to hold the event.

Hashemi made the remarks at a ceremony here to honor the Iranian medalists of the Hangzhou Asian Games.

He was also impressed by the support Iranian athletes received from the Chinese when table tennis players Noshad and Nima Alamian stunned Japanese pair Taisei Matsushita and Mizuki Oikawa 3-0 (11-6,11-8, 11-5) in the quarterfinals of the men's doubles. He said a great number of Chinese netizens congratulated Iran on the achievement on the website of the Iranian embassy in China.

Among the athletes who took part in the honoring ceremony were Iranian wrestlers, wushu practitioners, as well as volleyball and kurash players.

Iran dispatched 289 athletes to the Hangzhou Asian Games. The country finished in seventh place at the end of the competitions, having collected 13 gold, 21 silver and 20 bronze medals.