Asian Games

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Myanmar plans to stage grand opening of SEA Games

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Myanmar is planning to hold opening and closing ceremonies of the 27th South-East Asian Games on a grand scale in December, official media reported Tuesday.

The SEA Games opening and closing ceremonies will be staged at Wunna Theikdi stadium in Nay Pyi Taw with the help of technical assistance from about 200 Chinese experts, said the New Light of Myanmar.

The stadium will be installed with one 110-metre LED screens and other six screens for the ceremonies.

Female weightlifters take North Korea's first gold medals at the East Asian Games

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Jong Sim Rim of North Korea lifts 142kg to take the gold medal in the women's 69kg Group A 'clean and jerk' weighlifting event at the East Asian Games in Tianjin on October 8, 2013. (Credit: AFP)

Two North Korean athletes have set East Asian Games weightlifting records as the nation gathered its first gold medals at this year's regional meeting.

Rim Jong-Sim has set new games marks of 117kg in the 'snatch' and 148kg in the 'clean and jerk' of the women's 69kg weightlifting.

Her teammate Kim Un-Ju has taken gold in the women's 75kg weightlifting with a total score of 266kg, including a games record 'clean and jerk' of 153kg.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

SOUTHEAST ASIAN GAMES - 28th SEA Games will be held in Singapore June 5-16, 2015.

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THE Southeast Asian Games (SEA) organizers have announced a big time fundraising goal for the 2015 SEA Games will be vying for $50 million in sponsorship dollars. Organizers have two years to accomplish the goal.

The event is one of the more prestigious competitions in the regions, and organizers are definitely looking to support the athletes involved in the Games and honor Singapore's 50th anniversary year.

UAE’s ‘Shaheen’ style rugby causing ripples in HSBC Asian Sevens Series

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UAE scored a historic win against Uzbekistan in the Thailand Sevens fielding all Emiratis for the first time. (SUPPLIED)

UAE Rugby created history in the second leg of the HSBC Asian Seven Series when they beat Uzbekistan 21-12 in the Shield semifinal in the Thailand Sevens fielding an all-Emirati side for the first time.

Two North Korean athletes set East Asian Games weightlifting records

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Rim Jong-Sim set new games marks of 117kg in the snatch and 148kg in the clean and jerk of the women's 69kg weightlifting.

Her teammate Kim Un-Ju took gold in the women's 75kg weightlifting with a total score of 266kg, including a games record clean and jerk of 153kg -- more than twice her own body weight.

Another North Korean, Chun Mi-Jong, took gold in the women's 63kg category with a total score of 226kg.

Japanese runner Yuko Shimizu, meanwhile, dazzled in the women's 10,000 metres, taking gold with a time of 32 minutes and 50.42 seconds, also breaking the games record.

But host country China consolidated its lead in the medals table on the second day of the quadrennial games, with more than three times as many golds as its nearest competitors, Japan and South Korea.

China, which has bested its competitors in each of the five previous East Asian Games, had 43 gold medals at the end of competition on Tuesday, compared to 11 apiece for Japan and South Korea.

China also had 28 silver medals and 15 bronzes. South Korea, in second place on the overall medals table, had 18 silvers and 22 bronzes, while Japan had 11 silvers and 22 bronzes.

Chinese athletes took golds Tuesday in categories including taekwondo, diving and fencing, and have also picked up first places in less-traditional contests -- such as the jive, rumba and cha-cha-cha dance competitions.

The 10-day regional contest is being held in the northern port city of Tianjin.

This year's competition features more than 2,400 athletes from China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Mongolia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and Guam, competing in 24 different sports.

It is the last time the East Asian Games will be held in their current form, the state news agency Xinhua reported, with the event due to be transformed into a youth games for athletes aged 14 to 18.

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Copyright AFP, 2013.

Taiwan baseballers overpower Guam for opening win at East Asian Games

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Tianjin, Oct. 6 (CNA) Taiwan routed Guam Sunday, finishing 15-0 ahead of time in the first men's baseball match of the East Asian Games in Tianjin, China.

27th Southeast Asian Games to be opened on November 2013

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The Sports Village will be opened in November ahead of the 27th Southeast Asian Games to be hosted by Myanmar, according to sports circle Sunday.

The Sports Village, a multi-facility residence for the athletes, coaches, officials and media, can accommodate at least 2,442 people.

The sports village is equipped with training grounds, money exchangers, entertainment centers, offices and media centers.

The facility is located beside Pyinmana-Taungnyo Road and Wunna Theikdi Stadium where the opening and closing ceremonies for the SEA games will be held.

Myanmar will host 27th SEA Games in Yangon, Nay Pyi Taw, Mandalay and Ngwehsaung beach from Dec.11 to 22 this year.

East Asian Games to Transform into Youth Version

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The 6th East Asian Games (EAG) to be opened on Sunday will be the last edition as the regional sports top officials are planning to transform the quadrennial Games into a youth version.

The 31st Council meeting of the East Asian Games Association (EAGA) was held here on Saturday afternoon. The main purpose of the assembly will be deliberate and approve the charter revision draft of the EAGA, a core part of the reform proposal passed by the EAGA during the 30th council meeting in May.

According to the reform proposal, a regional youth sports meet, featuring athletes aging from 14 to 18, will replace the current EAG to be staged as the most important sports tournament in East Asia once every four years.

The inaugural East Asian Youth Games will be staged in 2019 and the host of the new sports event, as well as the date, is yet to be decided.

The East Asian Games is a multi-sport event organized by the EAGA and held every four years since 1993. The participating delegations are the eight East Asian countries and regions of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), namely China, Japan, South Korea, DPR Korea, Mongalia, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, China and Macao, China, as well as the Pacific island of Guam, which is a member of the Oceania National Olympic Committees.

Kazakhstan, a former member of the EAGA, participated in the second EAG in Busan, South Korea in 1997 and Australia was invited to compete in the third edition in Osaka, Japan in 2001.

Friday, June 3, 2011

OGQ support for hurdler Ashwini

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Asian Games 2010 women's 400m hurdles champion Ashwini Akkunji

Asian Games 2010 women's 400m hurdles champion

Asian Games 2010 women’s 400m hurdles champion, Ashwini Akkunji, is the latest addition to Olympic Gold Quest list of talented sportspersons to receive support with an eye on the London Olympics 2012. Specialised medical support and nutrition to meet her entire training requirements will be the focal point.

CEO of Olympic Gold Quest, Viren Rasquinha, explained, “We believe that she has genuine potential to challenge for an Olympic medal in the women’s 400m Hurdles event. OGQ plans to help her with her entire training needs with focus on specialised medical support and nutrition,” Rasquinha said.

The Karnataka athlete competes in women’s hurdles and is part of the Indian relay quartet.

“Ashwini has improved by leaps and bounds. Her built and running style are perfectly suited to the 400m hurdles event. We are delighted to have her as part of the OGQ program,” Rasquinha said.

Ashwini, 23, from Siddapura, Udupi district, attracted attention last year with a stunning display in the 400m hurdles at the Asian Games 2010, clocking a personal best 56.15 seconds against top-class international competition. China’s Wang Xing (56.76s) and Japan's Satomi Kubokokura (56.83s) finished behind her for the silver and bronze.

The lean runner won the 400m relay gold medals in the CWG 2010, New Delhi and 2010 Asian Games, Guangzhou. Ashwini said: “The last seven-eight months have been like a dream for me after winning gold at the CWG and the Asian Games. I’m grateful to all the girls in the 4x400m team, our coach Yuri, the AFI and Sports Ministry.”

She added: “OGQ support has arrived at the perfect time as my preparations for the Olympics 2012 have begun. I am pleasantly surprised at the pace at which OGQ moved to get specialised treatment for my injured wrist and to get procure nutritional supplements not available in India.”

Olympic Gold Quest is a Not For Profit Foundation that supports the training and preparation of 25 sportspersons across four individual Olympic sports (badminton, boxing, shooting and athletics), as part of the mission to help Indian athletes win Olympic gold medals.

OGQ’s Board of Directors comprises of Geet Sethi (eight-times World Billiards Champion, Khel Ratna and Padmashree awardee), Prakash Padukone (All England Champion and Padmashree Awardee), Leander Paes (12-times Grand Slam Champion), Viswanathan Anand (four-time World Chess Champion), Niraj Bajaj (four-time National Table Tennis Champion, Arjuna Awardee and Chairman, Bajaj Group of Companies).

Others on the board include R Ramaraj (Senior Adviser, Sequoia Capital India), Shitin Desai (Vice Chairman, DSP Merrill Lynch), Rakesh Khanna (Founding Partner, Ambit RSM), Neeraj Bharadwaj (Managing Director, Accel Partners) and Deepika Padukone (Actor).

Monday, May 30, 2011

Indians welcome shelved badminton ruling

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Saina Nehwal of India plays a shot during the Badminton women's singles at the Asian Games in Guangzhou in 2010. Indian badminton players and officials welcomed a decision by the sport's bosses to shelve a controversial new ruling that would have forced women to wear skirts or dresses on court.

AFP - Indian badminton players and officials on Monday welcomed a decision by the sport's bosses to shelve a controversial new ruling that would have forced women to wear skirts or dresses on court.
The new regulation, which sparked the worst internal wrangling in years and saw badminton gain unprecedented media coverage, had already been delayed once but had been due to come into effect on June 1.
The sport's governing body, the Badminton World Federation (BWF), met Saturday in the Chinese coastal city of Qingdao and decided to shelve the ruling pending a new dress code proposal in December.
"It is a very good decision by the BWF. They couldn't have gone ahead with the mandatory skirt ruling anyways," India's top women's doubles player Jwala Gutta was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India news agency.
"It can never be a compulsion on the players and it is good that they are rethinking the decision."
Badminton Association of India (BAI) vice-president T.P.S. Puri also welcomed the decision, which will allow players to continue wearing shorts during games.
"This is the right approach by the BWF. If it would have been made compulsory then many players would have become uncomfortable," he said.
"A lot of nations, including India, objected to the mandatory nature of the ruling and we welcome this decision of the governing body."
Some players had accused the game's administrators of sexism, but badminton bosses countered that they were merely trying to boost the profile of the women's game and help attract more sponsorship.
China, Indonesia and India were among a host of countries which had raised fierce objections, while in Malaysia, the opposition Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS) called for a boycott of tournaments.
Despite rapid modernisation, India remains a generally conservative country where public displays of sexuality are taboo and women are expected to dress modestly.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Udupi: Golden Girl Ashwini Eyes Olympic Gold

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Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (SP)
Udupi, Mar 10: Ashwini Shetty Akkunji, who has made the country proud by winning gold medals at the Commonwealth and Asian Games, said that she has now been concentrating on winning gold in the next Olympics, and that she has been practicing hard for the same. She was speaking during her visit to Srikrishna Mutt here on Wednesday March 9.
Ashwini said that her chances of bagging a medal at Asian Championship being held in Japan are not bright because of the paucity of time for practice. She revealed that the fracture she suffered during a practice session in Bangalore about two months ago to her hand is yet to heal fully, and that this has also been affecting her performance.
She expressed happiness at being chosen as the brand ambassador of Corporation Bank, and expressed the confidence that this will be a stepping stone for her future achievements, as the bank will be extending her all the assistance she needs for her practice and achievements.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Official: Asian Games stayed within budget, despite claims

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MTR Ktt with 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games advert...

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GUANGZHOU - Finance authorities in this southern city said the 16th Asian Games and Asian Para Games last year had not left the city a huge monetary hole.
In response to criticisms made by deputies of the city's people's congress, Zhang Jieming, director of the Guangzhou finance bureau, said the city's budget for the games was 13.6 billion yuan ($2 billion).
So far, the city has used some 9.1 billion yuan, accounting for 67 percent of the budget, according to Zhang.
"I can say that the investment has been kept within the budget," Zhang said at a special news conference on Wednesday after the annual session of the local people's congress, which concluded last week.
"The funds come mainly from the marketing development related to the games, subsidies from higher governments and the sales of the Asian Games town in Panyu district," Zhang said.
Zhong Nanshan, a deputy with the Guangzhou People's Congress, claimed at the session that the games had left the city owing some 210 billion yuan.
"Actually, the government debt is not as high as the figure some deputies mentioned," Zhang said. Early in 2002, when Guangzhou launched a bid to host the 2010 Asian Games, local authorities planned a budget of about 12.1 billion yuan for the games, according to Zhang.
However, local authorities submitted a general investment plan of as high as 220 billion yuan to the central government after it won the bid.
"The 220-billion-yuan plan included the building of stadiums, Asian Games town and some key infrastructure projects from 2005 to 2010. That's why some people say that Guangzhou has invested a huge amount of money to host the games," Zhang said.
The city invested as much as 109 billion yuan to improve urban infrastructure from 2005 to 2010, according to Zhang.
"At present, the government owes some 88.4 billion yuan from urban construction over the past several years, including debt interest," Zhang said.
Zhang said that it is a common practice for local governments to collect money for urban construction through government debts, according to Nanfang Daily.

Guangzhou Promises to Release Asiad Spending Details Before 2013

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The 16th Asian Games opens on November 12, 2010 in Guangzhou, capital city of south China's Guangdong province. [Photo: Xinhua]

Guangzhou's finance chief Zhang Jieming said Wednesday the total spending of the Asian Games would be released before 2013, the Information Times reports.

Zhang, the director of the Guangzhou Financial Bureau said that the city had injected 13.6 billion yuan for the 16th Asian Games held in November, 2010 - 6.3 billion yuan was used for venue construction and 7.3 billion yuan for operation and maintenance.

The details of expenditure and revenue will be made public after auditing, Zhang Jieming said at a press conference on Wednesday.

During the annual session of the People's Congress of Guangzhou city, Zhong Nanshan, a renowned medical expert and member of the National People's Congress, claimed that the Guangzhou Asiad cost more than 257 billion yuan, leaving the city with a debt of more than 210 billion yuan, according to previous reports.

Zhang Jieming denied those reports. He added that the municipal government is faced with a debt of 88.4 billion yuan, mainly because between 2005 and 2010, Guangzhou, capital city of south China's Guangdong Province, allocated 109 billion yuan for infrastructure improvement, including subway, road and bridge construction, and environmental facilities, to give the city a facelift.

But he emphasized that the local government is "prudent" towards the issue of budget, and the current debt is "affordable."

Beijing released its Olympic spending details in June, 2009, about ten months after the Olympic Games held in August, 2008.

‘Asian Games left Guangzhou in huge debt’

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Beijing: A controversy has broken out over China's massive spending on last year's Asian Games in Guangzhou city after a local legislator claimed the sporting extravaganza had left the city with a debt of USD 32 billion.

While the Chinese authorities are yet to provide breakdown of the money spent on the Games, Zhong Nanshan, a deputy with the Guangzhou People's Congress said there was a big financial gap after the local authorities invested what he claimed was 257.7 billion yuan (USD 38.4 billion) on the the sporting spectacle.

Zhong said that after the Games the city is left with a 210 billion yuan (USD 32 billion) debt, which also included the previous outstanding loans.

"How will the city government find the money to improve people's living standards with such heavy debts to pay in the years ahead?" Zhong was quoted as saying

However, Zhang Jieming, director of Guangzhou finance bureau claimed that the income and expenditure for the Asian Games had balanced.

"I don't know what sources Zhong Nanshan cited. You reporters should ask him how he got his figure," Zhang told the official media.

The expenditure directly used for the games was 13.6 billion yuan, (USD two billion) with more than 100 billion yuan (USD 15 billion) also invested in improving urban infrastructure during the past five years, Zhang said.

"I haven't exchanged views on the games budget with Zhong. So far, there has not been a complete financial report. This is normal. There are several figures related to the games budget and we will unveil the official financial accounts at the proper time," Zhang said.

Many other deputies at the local People's Congress have joined Zhong in calling on the government to unveil its official report on the cost of the games.

"Guangzhou's budget income was less than 100 billion yuan last year. Where does this huge investment in the games come from? The government should give the public an explanation," Zheng Jingping, a deputy with the Guangdong Provincial People's Congress was quoted as saying.

Prior to the games' opening, Guangzhou Mayor Wan Qingliang said the investment in the games had been kept within the budget and amounted to about 120 billion yuan, (USD 18 billion).

Guangzhou, one of China's highly industrialised cities, hosted the 16th Asian Games and the Asian Para Games in November and December last year.

PH execs to fight for inclusion of billiards

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Southeast Asian Games

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PHILIPPINE Olympic Committee president Jose “Peping” Cojuangco said member-countries of the Southeast Asian Games Federation will meet on Feb. 25 in Bali, Indonesia to debate – and ultimately decide – which sports will be included in the 26th Southeast Asian Games roster.

“There will be a big debate and discussions over the events of the SEA Games,” said Cojuangco upon learning that billiards and snooker, along with women’s football will not be included in the Games this November.
The Philippines will send chefs de mission Sim Chi Tat and commissioner Chito Loyzaga to the council meeting, along with newly appointed sports and rules committee representative Steve Hontiveros to lobby for some sports and assess the situation in the run-up to the Games.
Malaysia earlier questioned the decision of Indonesian organizers to scrap billiards and snooker, women’s football and reduce the number of events in shooting, sailing and cycling.
Meanwhile, Cojuangco said he will personally oversee and supervise the training of a unified national team in cycling.

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