Our PhDs on the road

Our PhD student Runqing Ma (Sport Science) attended the 14th World Congress of Performance Analysis of Sport at the Middlesex University, UK.

  • Period of stay: 27 to 30 August 2024

 

Report

From the 27th-30th of August 2024, I had the privilege of attending the 14th World Congress of Performance Analysis of Sport, hosted by Middlesex University in London, which has a long-standing reputation for research and practical experience in sports performance analysis.

Thanks to the support of the VDS PhaNuSpo, I was able to have such an unforgettable and invaluable academic experience, allowing me to present my research, entitled "Enhancing Football Passing Networks: A Network Analysis of the 2022 World Cup". The work focused on a modified passing network where the edge weights are based on the value of the passes. This approach allows the role of players in team dynamics to be assessed through networks that depend on the contribution of passing quality, providing a more comprehensive assessment of attacking performance.

I was also honoured to receive the Routledge Young Researcher Award, which was a great encouragement and motivation for my future work. I really enjoyed this conference as I had the opportunity to meet many professionals working on similar topics and had meaningful discussions with professors and peers with many brilliant ideas.

Once again, I would like to sincerely thank VDS PhaNuSpo and my supervisors for their support in enabling me to have this excellent academic experience.

 

Photo of Runqing Ma
Photo of Runqing with the other award winners at the conference

Runqing Ma and the other award winners