Asian Games Begin in Nagoya With 469 Medal Events and Housing Complaints

Synopsis

The 20th Asian Games kicked off in Nagoya on September 19 in front of 469 medal events in 43 sports that will be held over 16 days, presided over by Emperor Naruhito. India (500 athletes) is looking to make a better haul at Hangzhou. The build-up has seen complaints about accommodation, transport and extreme weather and the organisers have employed container style huts and a cruise ship for accommodation. There are seven sports that have 2028 places in the Olympics and padel and mixed martial arts are among the sports that can be included for the first time.

The 20th Asian Games kicked off on Saturday evening with the Emperor Naruhito opening the Games at the Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium in Nagoya. Murofushi Koji, the Olympic hammer throw champion and his father Shigenobu, a five-time Asian gold medallist, lit the cauldron together. IOC President Kirsty Coventry was in attendance.

For Japan it was a Three Days Games and a Sixteen Days Programme

For the third time, Japan is hosting the Asian Games, following Tokyo in 1958 and Hiroshima in 1994. More than 15,000 athletes from 45 countries and regions will compete on the field and the Japanese delegation is the biggest with 933 athletes.

The first gold is likely in the men's individual triathlon Sunday morning, and 468 others are to follow before Oct. 4. There are seven sports that have berths for the 2028 Olympics.

For the first time in Asian Games history, Padel, mixed martial arts and breakdancing, along with eSports, are not missing from the list. There are also new additions like surfing, teqball and virtual taekwondo.

The effects of accommodation, weather and logistic strain

For cost reasons a traditional athletes' village wasn't constructed. The competitors stay in temporary 'container' huts, hotels and the cruise ship Costa Serena. Some teams found the huts uncomfortable, with beds too short; and some athletes were not picked up from an airport where transport was not ready.

Some parts of Nagoya were flooded by a record downpour last week, while a tropical storm is coming to eastern Japan, which could cause disruptions on Sunday and Monday. North Korea's national anthem was premiered for South Korea's men's hockey team on Friday. South Korea coach Min Tae-seok said this is "a really serious problem.

The delays at checking in, limited space and room allocation were cited as reasons for the Indian reporting. This shooting unit had to travel long distances to training areas.

India appointed a new Kabaddi player, Pawan Sehrawat, as flag-bearer, ahead of the ceremony, after the luggage of his countryman, the shot-putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor, reached the venue without his flag-bearer kit. Sehrawat and Manu Bhaker were the captains of the team.

India's Test After a Record Haul at the city of Hangzhou

India were fourth in the standings in Hangzhou with 107 medals: 28 gold, 38 silver and 41 bronze. The figure has since been revised to 106 after boxer Parveen Hooda was penalized for a whereabouts violation, Business Standard reports. This came after the 57 medals won at Incheon in 2014 and the 69 medals at Jakarta in 2018.

India this time have 500 athletes compared to 655 in the Chinese city of Hangzhou with defending champion of the javelin throw Neeraj Chopra out of the race due to an injury.

The smaller squad makes it more difficult and the newspaper poses the question as one of depth. Hangzhou won 29 medals while sending the biggest team of 77 athletes to compete in athletics, and 22 athletes represented their sport in shooting.

Harmanpreet Kaur leads the Indian women's cricket team as they defend their title and the pair of coach Amol Muzumdar and the skipper have described Nagoya as a "teaser" for the return of cricket to the Olympics at Los Angeles 2028.

The men's team features 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and if forecast rain doesn't come in, then it's possible of an India-Pakistan final. India also has a possibility of qualifying for LA 2028 seats in archery, sailing, squash, surfing and tennis.

The Wider Field

China has dispatched over 800 athletes, including 36 Olympic champions, to its home city Hangzhou for the Games, which it expects to win 201 gold medals and 383 medals. North Korea is sending a team of 14 sports that includes more than 100 athletes.

Gymnast, Shinnosuke Oka and javelin thrower, Haruka Kitaguchi are in the Japanese team. Chinese swimmer Thirteen-year-old Yu Zidi sweeps into the women's 200 m butterfly heats on Sunday while Philippine tennis player Alexandra Eala is on the contest.