China's President inaugurates the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games 2023

Tags: Sports News

Chinese President Xi Jinping officially opened the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China on September 23, 2023.

An Overview of the News

• The Games take place every four years but were postponed from 2022 due to COVID-19 restrictions in China.

• The last 18th Asian Games were hosted in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2018.

China hosting for the third time

• China has hosted the Asian Games twice before, in 1990 (Beijing) and 2010 (Guangzhou).

• The 19th Hangzhou Asian Games will be held from 23 September to 8 October 2023.

Opening Ceremony

• The opening ceremony was held at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium, also known as the Big Lotus.

Hangzhou Games mascot and slogan

• During the flag-raising ceremony, the mascots of the Hangzhou Games, Chenchen, Congcong and Lianlian, were introduced. They are a trio of robots.

• On the game's official website, these robots are called "Memories of Jiangnan", taking their name from a Chinese poem.

• The slogan of the Games is 'Heart to Heart, @Future.'

Participating teams and events

• Nearly 12,500 athletes from 45 countries and territories in Asia are competing in 61 disciplines across 40 sports.

• India has sent a strong delegation of 665 members to these games.

• During the opening ceremony, the Indian team flag was raised by Indian men's hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh and Olympic bronze medalist in boxing Lovlina Borgohain.

• India will compete in 41 out of 61 disciplines, with both men's and women's cricket teams participating for the first time.

New Games Launched

• E-sports, breakdancing and sport climbing have been introduced for the first time in the Asian Games.

Next Asian Games

• The inaugural Asian Games were held in New Delhi in 1951.

• The 2026 Asian Games will be hosted in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, while the 2030 Games are scheduled for Doha, Qatar.

• Similar to the Olympics, the right to host the Asian Games is awarded to a city rather than a country.