Stand up paddling world titles among events to be streamed worldwide in new ICF media partnership

The International Canoe Federation will stream this year’s Stand Up Paddling World Championships to the world after launching a dedicated Chinese-based live streaming platform.

As part of an exciting new partnership, the platform will include local language commentary.

The ICF has engaged Lausanne-based H&A Media to help launch and manage the new platform, which will cover a strong roster of major international canoeing events and those scheduled to take place in China.

Canoe marathon, stand up paddling, dragon boat and canoe slalom are just some of the disciplines which the ICF will take to China in 2019 and 2020. It reflects the exciting growth of canoeing in the region, in the build up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

"China is a very important market for the ICF, so it is essential we have strong media visibility to build on our presence," said ICF secretary general, Simon Toulson.

"Our strong television partner, CCTV, and our collaboration with H&A Media will give us valuable Chinese knowledge. The inclusion of a youth-orientated digital platform, using Chinese language, will take our sport to the next generation of local athletes."

The live streaming will be available on Huya TV for free. Huya TV is one of the fastest growing digital platforms in China.

"With the full support of the State Administration and the international governing body, Chinese Canoe Association will host several ICF World Championships in the near future," said Li Xin, Chinese Canoe Association secretary general.

"We appreciate ICF’s confidence and support in the China market and look forward to delivering world class events."

H&A Media director Guy Horne said the partnership with the ICF will help build a solid platform for canoeing in China, one of the fastest growing sport markets on the planet.

"Live-streaming offers immediate and accurate audience feedback on the popularity of international sport properties into the China market," he said.

"Between our Lausanne and Beijing teams, Huya TV and ICF event organizers, we have created a model which should generate long-term growth for canoeing."

ENDS

About ICF

The international governing body for canoeing, with its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Responsible for the Olympic disciplines of canoe sprint, paracanoe and canoe slalom. Responsible for the non-Olympic disciplines of extreme slalom, canoe marathon, ocean racing, canoe freestyle, canoe polo, canoe wild water, stand up paddling.

About H&A Media

H&A Media is a broadcast, media and communications company based in Lausanne, Switzerland.

It produces tailored sports media content for international federations, rights-holders and destinations, with a strong focus on Asian markets.

Website: www.hamedia.ch LinkedIn: handamedia

About Huya

HUYA Inc (虎牙直播) is a leading live streaming platform in China and is listed on the NYSE since 2018. HUYA reached 116.6 million average monthly active users in Q4 2018.

HUYA Website: https://www.huya.com/

ICF > Huya TV planned 2019 live streaming and VOD event schedule:

23-25 Aug 2019 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships (Szeged, Hungary);

8 Sept 2019 ICF Extreme Canoe Slalom World Championships (Prague, Czech Republic);

18-19 Sept 2019 ICF Canoe Sprint Super Cup (Linyi, China);

28-29 Sept 2019 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships (La Seu, Spain);

18-20 Oct 2019 ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships (Shaoxing, China);

27 Oct 2019 ICF Stand Up Padding World Championships (Qingdao, China);

Supplementary information:

Key Chinese athlete performances in the Olympics and Asian Games:

MENG Guanliang (孟关良) and YANG Wenjun (杨文军) won gold in the Men's C-2 500m in 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games.

In the 2018 Asian Games, China won the most medals of all nations in canoeing, a total of 10 gold and three silver.

In the 2018 Asian Games - LI Qiang (李强) C-2 200 m Sprint / ZHOU Yu (周玉) K-4 500 m Sprint & K-2 500 m Sprint / Hao Liu and Hao Wang won gold in the C2 men's 1000m sprint

In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, there are 16 gold medals in kayaking and canoeing up for grabs.

As a service to our readers, Around the Rings will provide verbatim texts of selected press releases issued by Olympic-related organizations, federations, businesses and sponsors.

These press releases appear to be around the rings and are not edited for spelling, grammar or punctuation.

25 Years at # 1: Your best source for news about the Olympics is www.aroundtherings.com , for subscribers only