Ding Ning attends an Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) press conference during the Hangzhou Asian Games, Oct. 7, 2023. (Xinhua/Pan Yulong)
HANGZHOU, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- China's Olympic table tennis champion Ding Ning was elected as one of nine members for the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) Athletes' Committee, as the OCA announced the results of the committee's first-ever election on Saturday.
"I am honored to be elected onto this committee. I am very happy to join and, in the future, I will try my best to help athletes in need," said Ding.
The nine elected members are chosen to represent the five regions of Asia. Aside from Ding, other members come from India, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, Singapore, and Hong Kong, China.
OCA Athletes Committee Chairperson Mikako Kotani (R) presents a gift to Ding Ning. (Xinhua/Pan Yulong)
Four of them will be nominated to become members of the organizing committees for future editions of the Asian Games and Asian Winter Games. Additionally, committee members will elect their own chair and vice-chair, with the list of elected officials to be announced in due course.
"We were delighted to see candidates from all five zones [within the OCA] and we had 26 athletes stand for election," said Mikako Kotani, chair of the OCA Athletes' Committee.
Tony Tarraf, director of the OCA Athletes' Development Department, revealed that the voter turnout for the election reached 66 percent, with a total of 7,785 votes cast. ■