Such an image can be used to refer to the members of the International Studies Faculty Badminton Club who represented the University in the badminton tournament called “PolyU Squina 2012 Asian Universities Invitational Badminton Tournament”.Taking place from 22 to 26 July 2012 in Hong Kong, this tournament is part of a series of activities to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
Hong Kong Polytechnic University was founded in 1937 as a small government trade school and was officially renamed Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 1994. Hong Kong Polytechnic University's outstanding achievements are reflected in seven main aspects: international recognition (top 150 universities in the world according to the Times Higher Education rankings in 2010 and top 30 universities in Asia according to the QS Asian University Ranking 2011), human resource training (has trained more than 300,000 people in the past 75 years), knowledge transfer (more than 700 consulting projects serving more than 400 companies and organizations with a turnover of more than HK$100 million in 2009/2010), innovation awards (more than 160 awards including 50 awards in international innovation exhibitions), outstanding research excellence (currently conducting 2,681 research projects worth HK$1,410.3 million), international cooperation (partnering with 560 schools in 40 countries and territories) and community service (from 2004-2010: more than 6,800 students and staff of the school served 490,000 poor people in Hong Kong).
Participating in the badminton tournament organized by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University to celebrate its 75th anniversary, in addition to the delegation from the University of Social Sciences and Humanities from Vietnam, there were also 14 other teams from mainland China (Beijing Jiaotong University, China University of Science and Technology, Northwestern Polytechnic University, Nanjing University of Economics and Finance, Tongji University, South China University of Technology), from Hong Kong (City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University), from Macau (Macau University), from Taiwan (Taiwan University of Science and Technology), from Thailand (Thailand University of Commerce) and from Indonesia (Indonesia University). The tournament was organized with two events: team and individual. The Vietnamese delegation, participating in the tournament for the first time, also registered for all team events (men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles) and three individual events (men's singles, men's doubles and women's doubles).
Despite great efforts and trying their best, the first time competing abroad, against schools with strong sports movements and high-class athletes (the Thai delegation had students who were athletes participating in the 22nd Seagames, the Nanjing University of Economics and Finance delegation had students who were athletes participating in the 2008 Beijing Olympics), the Vietnamese delegation only won one match in the men's doubles against the University of Macau and ranked 15th overall. The team championship was won by Beijing Jiaotong University, with the teams of University of Science and Technology of China, University of Commerce of Thailand and Tongji University of China in 2nd, 3rd and 4th place respectively. The tournament ended successfully on July 26 with the individual finals, with the men's and women's singles championships going to University of Science and Technology of China, the men's and women's doubles going to University of Commerce of Thailand and the mixed doubles going to University of Indonesia.
Participating in this Hong Kong Polytechnic University tournament, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities sent Associate Professor Dr. Pham Quang Minh (Vice Principal) as the head of the delegation and MSc. Ngo Tuan Thang (Expert of the Faculty of International Studies) as the manager with 6 athletes, including 3 students of the Faculty of International Studies (Nguyen Huu Thanh K53, Tran Thi Kim Tuyen K54, Nguyen Bich Viet Anh K55), 2 students of the Faculty of Oriental Studies (Tran Van Toan and Cao Thi Minh Chau K55) and 1 student of the Faculty of Political Science (Phan Duy Anh K53). During their stay in Hong Kong, the delegation was warmly and enthusiastically welcomed by the host University of Social Sciences, creating the most favorable conditions for competition and activities. The delegation also had the opportunity to exchange and learn from students of other delegations, bringing the image of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities to international friends. The biggest lesson that the members of the delegation learned was that there is a huge gap between world universities and Vietnamese universities (in terms of physical strength, technique, equipment and training conditions) and that if we want to "swim out to sea without being swept away by the waves", we must change our perception and approach to learning and playing sports in general, and badminton in particular.
