?The 17th edition of the Asian Games got underway yesterday (September 19) with a special opening ceremony at the Incheon Asiad Main Stadium in Incheon, in South Korea.
There are 9,429 from 45 nations in total vying for more than 1,300 medals in 439 events in 36 sports, which mark its beginning with the grand opening ceremony.
The Asian Games in Incheon is seen as a great platform by athletes across the nations to test themselves ahead of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. China aiming to dominate the Asiad for the ninth occasion, clean swept the last Asiad in Guangzhou in 2010, with a total of 416 medals including 199 golds.
Yesterday’s opening ceremony of this extravaganza event highlighted the theme “Meet Asia’s Future”. The opening ceremony lived up to many expectations, with a perfect combination of Asian tradition with latest innovation.
The ceremony opened in a festive atmosphere shortly after nightfall, with traditional Korean drums and performances by K-Pop groups that are among the country’s most popular cultural exports. They segued into a more refined atmosphere, with a poetry reading and stunning rendition of a traditional folk tune by soprano Jo Sumi.
South Korean President Park Geun-Hye declared the games open, and the torch was passed on its final leg to beloved South Korean actress Lee Young-ae, who lit the cauldron that will burn throughout the 16 days of the games.
Concluding the extravaganza, PSY emerged from a darkened backstage to join Chinese classical pianist Lang Lang in a hard driving rock number before concluding with his 2012 worldwide megahit that had athletes and spectators dancing its trademark horse riding jig.
Organizers hope the high-tech event will boost interest and lagging ticket sales in the port city of Incheon, west of the capital Seoul.
Bahrain’s flag was held by shooting team member Ali Hussain at the nation’s parade at the opening ceremony, as the kingdom makes its 11th appearance in the history of the spectacular once in four years multi-sports event.
Some 30 athletes from seven sports disciplines from Bahrain made up the parade. Bahrain has sent eight sports teams, comprising 120 athletes and officials in total, for this 16-day edition.
The kingdom will be represented in athletics, equestrian, triathlon, shooting, handball, sailing, cycling and bowling.
Coached by Salah Bouchekriou of Algeria, Bahrain will begin their campaign today in the handball tournament when they take on Mongolia at 6am (Bahrain time). Saudi Arabia is the other team in this three-nation group.
The team feature 16 of Bahrain’s best handball players, including Hussain Al Sayyad, Jaffer Abdulqader, Mahdi Madan, Sadeq Ali, Mahmood Abdulqader and goalkeeper Mohammed Abdulhussasin.