All eyes set on Pearl River for Asian Games closing ceremony, to begin at 17:30 hrs IST

THE ASIAN Games 2010 held in Guangzhou, China opened to the world in a grand ceremony with never seen before LED lightings and firecrackers playing a major part.

The fourteen-day gala event, where even India broke all records and won many “first-ever” medals, will bring the curtains down today at 17:30 hrs IST. The ceremony will reportedly be more subtle as the hosts send off the athletes in a warm ceremony.  The games’ closing ceremony will feature at the same venue as the opening ceremony that is the Haixinsha Square on the Pearl River. It will be a three-hour performance event concluding with the flag handover for the 2014 Asian Games, to be held in Incheon, South Korea.
Famous Asian pop star Rain (Jung Ji-Hoon) will perform three songs in the event. In all eight songs have been picked for the ceremony representing the eastern, western, southern, northern and central parts of the continent. The idea behind this is to display Asia as a whole and emerging power, said one of the organisers. An Indian musician Ravi K Tripathi is also going to perform at the ceremony. He will be singing the famous A R Rahman number ‘”Jai Ho” and two other songs.
Similar to the opening ceremony, the closing will also feature water bodies as an important part. There will be interesting formations and use of the cauldron, which was lighted by firecrackers in the opening ceremony, among other things.  The whole ceremony will come to cost around $53 million, as per sources.

India has managed to pull of the best-ever Asian Games haul, since 1982 Asiad. Our athletes clinched a total of 64 medals comprising 14 gold, 17 silver and 33 bronze. This is the highest number of gold medals won since the first Asian Games held in 1951. India is on the sixth position and has superseded Thailand as well as Malaysia.

 

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Asian Games closing ceremony to feature Indian musician

THE GAMES are coming to an end and with that mesmerising opening ceremony, the world can’t wait to see how the games close down in Guangzhou, China.

Reportedly, the ceremony is going to have an Indian flavour too with Mumbai-based Ravi Tripathi slated to perform at the ceremony.
Tripathi will be performing the famour A R Rahman composition ‘Jai Ho’ at the ceremony with 200 Chinese dancers moving to his tunes. His 15-minute performance will include two other songs, one from his latest album ‘Baatein’ and the other, a Chinese number that has been composed by a popular China-based music composer Henry Ctang. Tripathi has sung for Chandni Chowk to China and a few other films.
Asian pop star and actor Rain (Jung Ji-Hoon) will also render three songs. Eight songs have been picked for the ceremony, representing the eastern, western, southern, northern and central parts of the continent

The closing ceremony will be held at the same venue where the Asian Games opened and water once again is a key ingredient in the whole ceremony.
The ceremony would commence with a giant chandelier emerging from the deep-water area of the stage with a sail-shaped red curtain on screens behind. The organisers also plan to use the cauldron, which was lit at the venue at the opening ceremony, together with the chandelier on the stage and the big screens shaped like sails.
A seemingly interesting ceremony is in store for all the anticipating viewers and with the Indian touch to it becomes all too special for the Indians.

 

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Vijender claims gold, tally touches 14

HISTORY WAS charted at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China when boxing’s pin up boy, Vijender Singh claimed gold, thus taking India’s gold medal graph to 14. The last gold haul was India’s best performance at the Asian Games so far.

To claim the 14th medal, Vijender pulverised Olympic bronze medalist, Uzbekistan's Abbos Atoev by a massive 7-0, which made the Indian spectators hysterical with the unbelievable win.

So far, India’s best performance had been during the 1982 Asian Games which was held in New Delhi. During the 1982 Games, India had clinched 13 gold, 19 silver and 25 bronze that led to a total of 57 medals.

The 25 year old, who has been compared with the likes of soccer players like David Beckham for his looks and crowd pulling ability compensated to the medal loss during the Commonwealth Games 2010 which were held in New Delhi.

Vijender’s performance on the penultimate day before the Games finally come to a close raised India’s hope of being somewhere where they could have never envisaged. However, China’s Zou Shiming retained his light-flyweight title.

With an addition of 11 more medals during the day, India’s medal graph raised to 14 gold, 17 silver and 33 bronze (total 64).

 

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Men's and women's kabaddi team raise India's gold medal bar

THE INDIAN women's and men's kabaddi team ended an outstanding Asian Games presentation by sealing the gold medal with a inclusive win over Thailand and Iran respectively in the finals to win the 12th gold for India on the 14th day of the ongoing Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.
The women's Kabaddi team beat Thailand 28-14 in a directing performance to settle the inaugural women's kabaddi gold of the Asian Games. In first half time they were leading 17 -7 after Thailand team failed to secure a single lonas against Indian and Indian women pinning them on the ground. Whereas, the Indian men's kabaddi team soared even higher by defeating Iran 37-20.

The squad had earlier managed to pulverise Japan to reach this spot and successfully managed to retain their glory. The Indian team also got a couple of bonus points in the opening half.

In semi-final Indian women beat Iran by close margin of 23-22. Match was interested as both teams were tied 22-22 in the closing time and the Indian team emerged victorious in the extra time.

 

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India wins 3 golds on Thursday, climbs up in Asian Games

INDIA HAS got back to its winning streak, or so it seems. After a very disappointing loss in Hockey semi-finals, India won a total of 7 medals on the 13^th day of Asian Games 2010.

India won two surprise gold medals in 400m hurdles athletics event, one in men’s category and one in women’s.
After that Vikas Krishnan lifted a gold in the men's 60 kg boxing event the Asian Games.
Also, a silver was won by Dinesh Kumar in the men’s 81 kg boxing event.
The total of India’s medal now is 53 and we are sitting at the eights position as of now.
In today’s events we are hopeful of 4 gold medals with two boxing events, two kabbadi events (women’s and men’s final) in sight.

Other scheduled events where India is participating are Karate, Sepaktakraw, Wrestling and Volleyball.
India has still a few chances left before the games close down tomorrow on 27^th November to make it a better event than the last Asian Games, where we finished at the eights position with around the same number of medals that we have now.

With four gold medals anticipated and a few more events in tow, its very anxiously awaited how many we are able to bag. Nothing is for sure after the heartbreaking loss in the Hockey semi-finals as India has not lost to Malaysia for the past few years in any Hockey match.
Today’s stars include Vijender Singh in the men’s 75 kg boxing gold bout where he is facing Abbos Atoev of Uzbekisan and Manpreet Singh in men’s 91 kg boxing event is facing Mohammad Ghossoun of Syria.
Kabbadi teams are also high in the gold anticipation list as India has never disappointed fans in this sport.

 

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India's stand in Asian Games 2010

INDIA WON two surprise gold medals after two days of average performance.
India's Ashwini Chidananda won a gold in the women's 400metres hurdles and Joseph Abraham clinched the gold in the men's category of he same even in the Asian Games 2010.

Ashwini outdid herself by clinching the gold with a timing of 56.15 to give India their 8th gold medal in the Games.

India’s performance was getting pretty uneventful for the past two days and these gold medals come as a pleasant surprise for all back home.

Another bronze was won by Mausam Khatri in men's 96 kg freestyle wrestling event, which made up for the disappointing performance of wrestlers earlier in he games.

Also, in hockey after the heart breaking loss to Malaysia in semi-finals, Indian team picked up the bronze after defeating Korea for it in the third-place playoff.

And with that bronze India finally ended the eight-year long wait of getting back on the podium in the sport. India won the last medal in hockey in the Asian Games 2002, in Busan.

Also, India broke Korea’s back as they have never missed a medal in the sport since the 1986 Asian Games, held in Seoul.

With these two gold medals, India beat Thailand to the 9th position. India now has a total of 9 gold medals, 13 silver and 29 bronze; that takes the total to 51.

China refuses to budge from the first position and has half of the gold medals of he whole event. China’s total is 370 medals followed by Korea with 217 medals and Japan on the 3rd position with 190 medals.

 

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Somdev wins second gold, creates history

SOMDEV HAS won India’s 7^th gold, a second for him after he grabbed a gold yesterday in the doubles event with Sanam Singh.

The duo bashed out Gong Maoxin and Li Zhe of China and followed in to the footsteps of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi. They sailed into o the semi-finals after winning this gold medal, taking India’s gold to 6.
And today, Somdev becomes the first-ever Indian to win a gold at a men’s singles tennis event at the Asian Games.
Today’s match was against Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan and the match belonged to Somdev right from the start.
Somdev, whose international ranking is 106 faced Istomin, who achieved a world-ranking of 39 this year. Somdev was totally in form right from the beginning and it seemed Istomin was just not playing the part. Somdev shunned Istomin 6-1 6-2.
This gold can be called one of the most precious ones as it’s the first ever in its category. Somdev has surely created history for India.
What is interesting is that this historic gold has come from a rather lesser known face of Tennis and not from Leander Paes or our own BHupathi or even Sania. Its time we realized our potential truly and gave equal importance to all players. Somdev has outdone himself by taking on the way he did to the world no 39, Istomin in today’s match.
India’s medal tally now is 37 with 7 gold medals, 12 silver and 18 bronze.  India stands tall at 6^th position sharing it with Thailand. If Thailand wins another gold it could beat India to the 6^th position.
China sits comfortably at the top position with a whopping 311 medals comprising of 157 gold medals. Following China are Korea with 182 medals at 2^nd position and Japan at the 3^rd position with 158 medals.

 

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Medal tally after Golden Sunday at Asian Games

ATHLETICS IS where we shined on Sunday, with two gold medals and a silver, all in women’s category. Sudha Singh and Preeja Sreedharan both won a gold medal each in Women’s 3000m Steplechase and omen’s 10,000m events respectively. Whereas, Kavita Raut brought a silver in Women’s 10,000m event.

Ronjan Sodhi became our shooting star by grabbing a gold in men’s double trap shooting event. India was earlier pretty disappointed with the shooting events, Ronjan Sodhi became the answer to all prayers.

Indian wrestlers Ravinder Singh and Sunil Kumar Rana clinched bronze medals in their respective weight categories in the Greco-Roman style on Sunday. Two more bronze came our way in the shooting event of men’s double trap team event and women’s singles tennis event.
Sania lost to Uzbekistan's Amanmur in the singles event of tennis and got  a bronze for the same in quarterfinals.
The trio of Deepika Kumari, a gold medal winner in last month’s Commonwealth Games, Dola Banerjee and Rimil Buriuly lost the tense semifinal shootout to the Koreans 26-29  and won a bronze in the women’s team event.
All these medals above total up to 9 medals bringing the total number to 33. India stands at an appreciative 8^th rank at the Asian Games 2010.  
It is interesting to note that in the last Asian Games, 2006 held at Doha, India finished at the eighth position with a total of 53 medals.   Still 6 days to go, there is hope alive that we will finish better than the last games here in Guangzhou.

India defeats Pakistan 3-2 in Hockey; a bronze won in snooker at the Asian Games 2010

ANOTHER VICTORY adds up to the Indian kitty. India defeated Pakistan 3-2 in a group B men's hockey match at the Asian Games. It’s the third consecutive win for India versus Pakistan in recent times.

Earlier, Pakistan lost 1-4 to India in the World Cup in March and 7-4 more recently in the Commonwealth Games. This consecutive win makes it a hatrick.

In today’s match Sandeep Singh converted two penalty corners for India, while Dharamvir Singh slotted one. For Pakistan, Rehan Butt and Shakeel Abbasi scored the goals. India led 2-1 at half-time.
Elsewhere, India won silver in the men's golf team event. South Korea won the gold by a massive margin.

In other events Sania won the quarterfinal of the women's singles against Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand and moved to the semi-finals.

In men’s tennis, India's Somdev Devvarman and Karan Rastogi entered the men's singles quarterfinal earlier today.
Also, Aditya Mehta secured a surprise bronze after losing to Chun Marco Fu Ka of Hong Kong 1-4 in the semifinals of the men's snooker singles competition today.

Earlier in the event, gold winner Pankaj Advani was knocked by Junhui Ding of China in the men's snooker pre-quarterfinals while compatriot Aditya Mehta reached the last eight stage winning and bringing a bronze back home.

India's stand at the Asian Games 2010

THE ASIAN Games are better than ever before with India grabbing its maiden gold in rowing and silver in Wushu (which is a new addition) and progressing steadily in tennis and hockey. Shooting, another strong sport this year brought silver and a bronze.

India surely is doing well so far and fingers are crossed to see if the performance is continued. As far as the 7th day is concerned India had lot of action stored for keen followers.
Firstly, early morning India grabbed the long awaited second gold medal at the men’s singles rowing competition and soon after that Minz-Puhana won bronze in the rowing women's pair event. Another silver was added to the kitty in the Men's Eight rowing competition. So, rowing brought in a lot of applauds and the much awaited gold for India.

In tennis our own star Sania Mirza qualified to the quarterfinals and is inching closer towards the medal rounds. Hopes are set and pressure is mounting, such pressure only in a way prevented Saina- the badminton starlet to grab any of the medals as she lost in the quarterfinals early this morning.
After the early gold for India, India has landed in the 11th position in the medals tally with two gold medals. They were at 12th position at the start of the day. Malaysia is in 10th spot with three golds. If India wins another gold medal now, they will go past Malaysia because they have won eight silvers to Malaysia's three.

India gets second gold at Asian Games 2010

BAJRANG LAL Takhar created history by winning the first ever gold in rowing for India at the Men’s Singles Sculls competition.

Takhar, is an army office,r who also was the first Indian to win a silver medal at the Doha Asian Games in 2006, he led the 2,000 meter race right from the start and went on to take gold with a timing of 7:04.78. Chinese Taipei’s Wang Ming Hui (7:07.33) took the silver while Iraq’s Haeider Hamarasheid (7:10.10) won the bronze with a third place finish.

Following Takhar’s historic gold, India's Pratima Puhana and Pramila Prava Minz won the bronze medal in the women's pair rowing event.

With Takhar’s feat, India’s wait to get its second gold medal at this edition of the Asian Games also ended. The rowing competition came to an end with these. India has done great this year in the sport with three silver, one bronze and the latest gold.
Elsewhere in badminton, India’s strong medal hope Saina Nehwal crashed out of the women’s singles badminton quarterfinals, losing 8-21, 21-8, 19-21 to Hong Kong's Pui Yin Yip.

India’s long wait for another Gold ended today whereas a strong hope for another medal was crashed. Saina’s defeat is a major blow for her fans, as she was being touted as one of the lead players in the Asian Games.

India won two silver medals in rowing event and one bronze in shooting yesterday at the Asian Games 2010. Earlier this morning, a Gold was clinched by Bajrang Lal Takhar which will do wonders for India at the medal tally.

Its Silver and Bronze Day for India at Asian Games 2010

IN SHOOTING, India's Vijay Kumar won a bronze in the men's 25 metres centre fire pistol competition while rifle shooters put up a disappointing show in the 50 metres three position event held on Thursday.
Shooting, post CWG was being anticipated as one of he strong areas of India and till now the performance is average.
Another interesting win was the two silver medals India won in the men’s four and lightweight men’s four rowing events in the Asian Games. Anil Kumar, Saji Thomas, Ranjit Singh and Jenil Krishnan won silver in men’s four event. China won the gold while Uzbekistan grabbed the bronze.

In the lightweight men’s four, Lokesh Kumar, Manjeet Singh, Rajesh Kumar Yadav and Satish Joshi came second. Japan took the gold and Hong Kong bronze.

In the other event, our very own sports diva, Sania Mirza defeated Wing Venise Chan of Hon Kong to enter the pre-quarter finals of the Women’s Singles event at Asian Games.
Sania hardly broke sweat and took just 50 minutes to tame Chan 6-1 6-0 in her first round encounter at the Aoti Tennis Centre here. Sania will next face the winners of the match between sixth seed Shuai Zhang of Hong Kong and Nepal’s Malika Rana.
Yesterday, Sandhyarani Devi won a silver medal in Women's Wushu Sanshou 60kg event in the Asian Games. She put up a great fight but came only close to winning a gold.

One of the more known stars of Indian sports, Vijender Singh defeated Yu Ting Yang of Chinese Taipei 9-2 to move into the quarterfinals of the 75 kg section in boxing at the Foshan Gymnasium.  
So far, it has been a winning day for India, be it Silver or Bronze medals, we are taking back something and that is the spirit that seems to keep it going. Till Gold finally comes to us, the silver medals should work as the silver lining on the dark cloud.

Indian Hockey team beats Bangladesh by 9-0 in Asian Games

INDIAN MEN'S hockey team crushed Bangladesh by 9-0 in their second group B match at the Asian Games 2010 at Guangzhou on Wednesday. Today's star of the match was Sandeep Singh. He converted four penalty corners into goals. Tushar Khandekar scored two, whereas Shivendra Singh, Raj Pal Singh and Dharamvir Singh scored one each. In the first match against Hong Kong in the ongoing Asian Games 2010, India won by 7-0. Now, Indian team will take on arch rival Pakistan on Saturday in their next match.

Yesterday at Guangzhou, 20-year-old gymnast Ashish Kumar became the first Indian, who won a medal in gymnastics for the country in Asian Games. He won bronze medal in Men's Floor event of Artistic Gymnastics. China's Chengiong and South Korean Soo Myun Kim won gold and silver on that event.

Virdhawal Khade, the 19-year-old Indian swimmer won a bronze medal in the men's 50 m butterfly event. He became the first Indian swimmer in 24 years to clinch an Asian Games medal. One more Indian, 19-year-old Harika Dronavalli clinched the bronze medal in the women's individual chess. In the men's sanshou 60kg wushu competition, Bimoljit Singh won the bronze medal for the country on Tuesday.

India has slipped to the 10th position with one gold, four silvers and seven bronze in the ongoing 2010 Asian Games. China is holding top position with 82 golds, 32 silvers and 33 bronze medals, whereas Korea is on second and Japan is on third rank in the medal tally.

India bags first gold at the Asian Games 2010, maintains fifth position

INDIA’S FIRST gold was bagged by Pankaj Advani in the Men’s English Billiards singles event on Sunday. The day was pretty good as we grabbed one silver and a bronze.

The Indian women shooters got a silver medal in the women's 10 metre air pistol team event after Vijay Kumar got a bronze in the men's 10 metre air pistol event.

So far, the medal tally is:

India with a total of 6 medals (1 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze) is on fifth position. China is leading with a total of 65 medals (37 gold, 15 silver and 13 bronze), followed by Republic of Korea with 38 medals, Japan with 43 medals, Hong Kong again with 6 medals. (Source: Official website of The Asian Games 2010).

Earlier, India kicked off its presence at the medals tally by clinching a silver medal in the 10m air rifle shooting team event. The Indian trio of Gagan Narang, Abhinav Bindra and Sanjeev Rajput beat Korea to bag the silver in the event. China grabbed the gold with Jikang Yu, Qinan Zhu and Yifei Cao in the team.

With this status India maintains fifth position so far at the event and as aspired by our teams, India hopefully will be consistent on this position .

India defeats Hong Kong 7-0 in Asian Games Hockey

INDIA TOTALLY dominated against Hong Kong in the first Group B Hockey match with a score of 7-0 in the Asian Games 2010. Against Hong Kong, India utilised three out of the six penalty corners they earned in the match.

Ace drag-flicker Sandeep Singh converted two penalty corners, before the free-flowing Indian attack toyed with the Hong Kong defence.

Sarvanjit Singh scored another goal to make it 4-0 before the breather.

Within two minutes into the second half, Tushar Khandekar sounded the board while Arjun Halappa added another in quick succession.

Shivendra Singh joined in the 48th minute to complete the Hong Kong rout.

India will face Bangladesh in the next Group match on November 17.  A gold medal in hockey in the Asian Games 2010 could give India a direct entry into the 2012 London Olympics.
Known as a nation with great hockey traditions, India's last hockey gold medal in Asian Games came in 1998 at Bangkok. However, India displayed a very disappointing performance in the last Asiad held at Doha not being able to qualify for semi-finals for the first time in history.

Hockey is the national game of India and the entire nation is expecting that the team would perform at top level and bring the gold to the country.

Pankaj Advani wins first Gold for India in Asian Games 2010

INDIA'S ACE billiards player Pankaj Advani clinched first gold medal for the country in the Asian Games 2010 at Guangzhou, after he defeated Oo Nay Thway Oo of Myanmar on Sunday. The former world professional champion 25-year-old Pankaj Advani beat Nay Thway with frames of 33-100, 100-61, 12-101, 101-4, 100-45 in the summit clash.

After winning the first gold medal for the country in the Guangzhou Asian Games 2010, Pankaj Advani said at the press conference, "This feels great. This is Olympics for me as unfortunately we are not there in the Olympics. This time I made it a point to win the first gold for the country. It's an absolutely emotional moment for me. I can't ask for more. "
Pankaj also won the gold medal in billiards at the 2006 Asian Games held in Doha, Qatar.
Another billiards player Alok Kumar won bronze medal for the country in the Men's 8-Ball Pool Singles event.

In another event today in the Asian Games 2010 at Guangzhou, Indian women shooters Heena Sidhu, Annu Raj Singh and Sonia Rai opened their account with silver medal in the 10 meter Air Pistol team event.

Earlier, on the first day of the Asian Games 2010, Gagan Narang won silver medal for the country in the Men's 10m Air Rifle event, whereas Indian team of Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang and Sanjeev Rajput secured silver medal in the Men's 10m Air Rifle Team event.
Host China is leading the medal tally with 63 medals including 37 golds, whereas India is on fifth position with six medals including one gold, three silvers and two bronze.

Asian Games 2010 opening ceremony today at 17:30 hrs IST

THE OPENING ceremony of XVI Asian Games to be held in Guangzhou, China is going to be one of a kind.
It’s the first ceremony where the whole event will not take place in any closed place or a stadium but in an open space. It will take place on an island on Pearl River and each country’s contingent will be taken there on a separate boat.

There will be a combined ceremony part on land and part on sea, also being anxiously awaited are the ‘mysterious lightings’ that China claims to be on display.

India’s flag bearer at the opening ceremony is ace shooter Gagan Narang, but, as he has an early morning schedule on 13th November, Saina Nehwal is the stand-by flag bearer. It is not officially confirmed yet as to who will bear the flag.

Although, the local public of China has seen the rehearsals of he ceremony taking place but there still are parts which have been kept hidden till now and will be revealed to the world together, today.

The opening ceremony is being organised under Chen Weiya, who was also the assistant director of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Chen revealed in a special interview that the ceremony "will surprise the world." Reportedly, a 7,000 people team will contribute to the ceremony.

 

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XIV Asian Games to begin with a spectacular opening ceremony

THE 2010 Asian Games are going to open in China on November 12, 2010 and the games will continue till November 27, 2010.

It is being speculated that the opening ceremony of the Asian Games will be a mega event, even when compared to the Olympics as the Asiad will host 42 events. 45 countries have confirmed participation in the Games.

The opening ceremony is being organised under Chen Weiya, who was also the assistant director of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Chen revealed in a special interview that the ceremony "will surprise the world." Reportedly, a 7,000 people team will contribute to the ceremony. A lighting ceremony, separate at the sea and land will be held at the opening ceremony.

Sports like mountain biking, Wushu, Rugby, Chess and many more uncommon as well as traditional sports will be part of the event.

All 45 members of Olympic Council of Asia are participating in the Games. Athletes from these 45 countries will compete in a total of 476 events in 42 sports making it the largest competition in the history of the Asian Games.

China is leaving no stone unturned for the success of the Games, also now in the wake of the recently concluded Commonwealth Games, held at New Delhi.

As is expected both the events are bound to be compared and thus China is working extra hard to make it a bigger extravaganza. In one of the measures half of the 2.1 million private cars in Guangzhou have been ordered off the roads for the period during and leading up to the games. This step has been taken to improve the ambient air quality,  this is similar to the measures taken for the 2008 Olympics held at China.

While China battles it out to make it a spectacular event, spectators can gear up for another treat for their eyes as the Opening Ceremony is bound to be magnificent.

 

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Pakistan hockey team finalised for Asian Games

PAKISTAN HOCKEY Federation (PHF) announced the 16-member squad for the upcoming Asian Games in China in Lahore on Tuesday. Zeeshan Ashraf will lead the team in the mega event, while Muhammad Imran will perform the duties of  vice captain.

Pakistan Hockey Federation's (PHF) selection committee had met in Lahore to finalise the national team for the event which will be held in Guangzhou from November 12 to November 27.

The federation dropped Omer Bhutta, Kashif Javed and Imran Shah from the participating team while penalty corner specialist Sohail Abbass and Salman Akbar succeeded to gain their seat in the national team for the Asian Games.

Other team members are: Muhammad Irfan, Waseem Ahmad, Muhammad Rashid, Fareed Ahmad, Muhammad Tauseeq, Abdul Haseem Khan, Rehan Butt, Shakeel Abbasi, Shafqat Rasool, Muhammad Zubair, Muhammad Waqas Sharif and Muhammad Rizwan. Imran Shah and Kashif Javed will be the reserve players. Khawaja Muhammad Junaid will be the team manager, Michel Van Den (Coach), Ahmad Alam and Ajmal Khan (Assistant Coaches), Faiz Ur Rehman (Physio) and Nadeem Khan Lodhi as the video analyst.

Ten hockey teams will participate in Asian games which have been divided into two pools. Pool A comprises Korea, China, Malaysia, Singapore and Oman, while Group B comprises on Pakistan, India, Japan, Bangladesh and Hong Kong.

As per schedule, Pakistan will play its first match against Hong Kong on November 17, second match against Japan on November 18, third match against India on November 20 and fourth and last pool match against Bangladesh on November 21. Classification matches and semi finals will be played on November 23, while position matches and final match will be played on November 25.

 

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China invited Zardari for opening ceremony of 16th Asian Games

CHINA HAS invited President Asif Ali Zardari to attend the opening ceremony of 16th Asian Games which is going to be held from November 12 to 27, in Guangzhou, China.
China is hosting another biggest event after 2008 Olympics games where in Athletes of 45 Countries will participate.16th Asian Games are schedule to start from November 12 to 27.
According to sources in Pakistan Olympic Association (POA), an invitation has been received from China in which they have invited President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari to attend the opening ceremony of the 16th Asian Games.
Pakistani Contingent is also taking part in the Asian Games. National athletes will leave for china in two parts. First batch of athletes will leave on November 8 and second batch of athletes will leave for china on November 10.
Training camps of baseball, snooker, squash, kabaddi, volleyball, martial arts, football, weightlifting and hockey are already getting underway at different venues of Pakistan Sports Complex (PSC). 169 contingent members including players and officials will visit China to participate in the mega event.
Sources in Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) said that purpose to hold all training camps under one roof is to monitor the performance of National Sports Federations and to get the best results from the athletes who will participate in the mega event of the sports world.

 

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India to field 15-member cycling squad for Asian Games

The Cycling Federation of India (CFI) Monday announced a 15-member squad for next month's Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. The CFI picked a trimmed nine men and six women team for the Nov 12-27 event compared to the 27 cyclists it fielded in the recently concluded Commonwealth Games.

The Indian cyclists failed to win a medal at the Delhi Games and will have an opportunity to redeem themselves as the competition will not be of the level of the Delhi Games.

O. Bikram Singh, the bronze medallist at the 2010 Asian Cup earlier this year, will be India's best bet for a medal in the men's event while Mahita Mohan is expected to spring a surprise in the women's category.

CFI assistant secreatry V.N Singh said the team has a realistic chance of winning a medal each in both the categories.

'We will not have to compete with mighty strong teams like Australia and England there. Bikram won a medal in Japan and there is no reason why he cannot replicate the medal-winning performance. Mahita and veteran Rameshwari Devi have a good chance of a podium finish in the women's event,' Singh told IANS.

The training camp for the cyclists is scheduled in New Delhi from Oct 27.

The Indian cycling squad:

Men: O Bikram Singh, Dayala Ram Saran, Satbir Singh, Sombir, Vinod Malik, Atul Kumar, Amrit Singh, Prince HS Hylen and Rajender Bishoni.

Women: Ch. Rameshwori Devi, Y Sunita Devi, Pana Chowdury, Rejani V, Mahita Mohan, Suchitra Devi.

Coaches: Grahm Seers (foreign coach), Chayan Choudary and Ruma Chatopahya.

China team nearly 1,000 strong for Asian Games

China will send nearly 1,000 competitors to next month's Asian Games, lead by Olympic badminton gold medalist Lin Dan and former world champion hurdler Liu Xiang.

After finishing with the most golds at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, China is expected to dominate the two-week event in Guangzhou in southern China.

The squad includes 35 Olympic champions, although two-thirds of the 977 athletes will be competing at a major event for the first time, preparing for the 2012 Olympics.

"We consider the Asian Games an important part of our preparation for the 2012 London Olympic Games," delegation head Duan Shijie was quoted as saying in the official China Daily.

China's men's basketball team will be a focus of attention. The team is aiming to repeat as Asian Games champions, but will be closely scrutinized after a brawl with Brazil's national team earlier this month. National coach Bob Donewald Jr., a manager and three players were suspended by the Chinese Basketball Association on Friday for the ugly on-court violence.

The team's preparations for the Asian Games were put on hold to give players time to reflect on the incident, but training has since resumed.

The games, which start Nov. 12, will attract more than 11,000 athletes from 45 countries competing in 42 sports.

Pakistan aims for gold in Asian Games cricket

Pakistan is aiming to clinch the cricket title at next month’s Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, where the sport makes its debut in the Asiad.

With India not sending its cricket team, Pakistan believes its second string team can win the Asian Games gold. Khalid Latif, Pakistan’s young captain, stressed that his team will do their best for a medal finish.

‘We (cricketers) have never featured in events like the Olympics or the Asian Games, but we can sense the feeling athletes experience when their country’s flag is on top after winning a gold medal,’ Latif told the Express Tribune. ‘It’s an important assignment for us and we won’t take it lightly.’

‘Playing for the senior side is a big honour but representing the country in an event like this is nothing less. I’m proud to be named captain.’

Pakistan is among the seeded teams in the event that also features Test nations like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh besides Afghanistan, who were impressive in the ICC World Twenty20 in the Caribbean this year.

Hosts China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Maldives, Singapore and Nepal are the other teams taking part. Latif said India’s absence has made Pakistan one of the favourites.

‘It would have been good to have India in the event because it would have added to the excitement. They are tough competitors but their absence has made us one of the favourites.’

But the right-handed batsman, who has played five One-Day Internationals and equal number of Twenty20s for Pakistan, added that the event would be competitive given the nature of the format.

‘Our former greats are serving as coaches in China and Afghanistan so we can expect tough competition from them.’

Source : IANS

Weightlifting under doping spotlight again

Weightlifting will once again be under the doping spotlight at the Asian Games, four years after four competitors were kicked out of Doha 2006 for flouting drugs rules. At the last edition, Myanamar lifters Kyi Kyi Than and Oo Mya Sanda, a silver medallist in the 75kg division, both returned positive tests.

Uzbekistan's Elmira Ramileva also tested positive for an anabolic steroid and teammate Alexander Urinov was found to have taken cannabis. The cases prompted the usual calls for the discipline to be banned from major multi-sports events, but to no avail with authorities insisting they are winning the drugs war against cheats. But on the eve of September's weightlifting world championships in the Turkish city of Antalya, there were worrying signs that not everyone is getting the message.

The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) revealed that 19 of the 81 countries taking part had not complied with the "athletes' whereabouts" rule, the code aimed at tracking athletes for testing on specific days. "The IWF anti-doping commission discussed the issue; this was followed by an in-depth deliberation by the IWF executive board," said a statement. "The option of not allowing these countries to participate in Antalya was seriously contemplated. Finally, the board decided to issue a notice of serious warning to the 19 federations concerned, saying that this was the last time they would be allowed to take part."

Fines of 5,000 dollars were issued.

"The IWF issued another clear message to its membership that it will not tolerate any serious diversion from the track of the anti-doping fight it chose to walk on many years ago."

Asian giants India too have struggled with doping issues and went into the recent Commonwealth Games under a cloud. Their weightlifters missed the Asian Games in Doha following a 12-month ban imposed on the national federation after four athletes tested positive within a year. But India is far from being the only guilty party with the official website of the IWF currently listing the names of around 100 competitors worldwide serving doping suspensions.

On top of that, there are also 13 life bans.

It isn't just weightlifting that will be watched after a handful of failed drug tests from track and field at the Delhi Commonwealth Games, including Indian walker Rani Yadav. Sri Lanka's only gold medal winner there, boxer Manju Wanniarachchi, also found himself in trouble after testing positive for the performance-enhancing steroid nandrolone. Despite the problems, the Chinese insist they are braced to catch all cheats in Guangzhou despite having had their own setbacks in 2010. Their 2008 Olympic judo gold medallist Tong Wen was banned for two years for testing positive to clenbruterol and national 100m champion Wang Jing was banned for life after testing positive for epitestosterone. "We will organise the strictest drug tests ever for the upcoming Guangzhou Asian Games to show the world we have not relaxed our alertness since the Beijing Olympics," said the state general administration of sports (SGAS) deputy minister Duan Shijie.

2010 Asian Games: Football draws are out

The draw for the football tournament at the 2010 Asian Games to be held in Guangzhou, China was carried out earlier today. The men’s competition will see 24 teams divided into six groups of four teams each with the top two sides from each group plus the four best third placed teams making it into the Round of 16. From there on it would be a knockout tournament to win the gold medal.

Though the Asian Games only open on November 12, the football tournament will be held from November 7 to 25. The competition like the Olympic football tournament will be an Under-23 tournament with three over aged players allowed per squad. The football competitions will be played across seven venues – Ying Dong Stadium, Huadu Stadium, Huangpu Stadium, Yuexiu Stadium, Guangdong People’s Stadium, Huagdong Stadium and Tianhe Stadium.

Two time champions India have been drawn in a difficult Group D along with defending champions Qatar, Kuwait and Singapore. Moving into the knockout stages is surely possible for the Sukhvinder Singh coached boys but for that a win against Singapore is a must plus good results against Kuwait and the mighty Qataris. One will have to see if Bob Houghton does release some of his senior team boys, while some India Under-20 boys will move up to be part of the squad ahead of their I-League engagements.

Four years ago in the Qatari capital Doha India had opened with a draw due to a late equaliser from Hongkong, beaten the Maldives 2-1 through a late Subhas Chakraborty goal, and then lost 0-2 against a strong Iran. That was then the end of the road for India as only the top team moved into the quarterfinals.

THE GROUPINGS

MEN

Group A: China, Malaysia, Kyrgyzstan, Japan
Group B: Iran, Vietnam, Bahrain, Turkmenistan
Group C: South Korea, Palestine, Jordan, North Korea
Group D: Qatar, Kuwait, India, Singapore
Group E: Uzbekistan, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Bangladesh
Group F: Thailand, Maldives, Oman, Pakistan

WOMEN

Group A: China, South Korea, Vietnam, Jordan
Group B: North Korea, Japan, Thailand

India U-23 Football Team to face Kuwait in Their Asian Games Opener

The India U-23 football team for the Guangzhou Asian Games is set to kick starts their campaign against Kuwait on November 7. Finally taking off for China on the morning of October 25, after cancelling their departure twice on Oct 23 and 24 the team next face defending champions Qatar on November 9. India is drawn in group D alongside, defending champions Qatar, Kuwait and Singapore. They face Singapore on November 11.

Travelling to China two weeks prior to the actual kick-off, the team was supposed to play series of friendly matches. However with of change of plans, they are now slated to play just one friendly. These shows the lackadaisical attitude of the concern authorities for the team doing well in the competition.

However Coach Sukhwinder Singh optimistically said that “We will play only one friendly in China. What a friendly does is to some extent halts the training session as a day prior to the game and the day after, we can’t have a full fledged practice which ultimately affects us as we don’t have enough days to prepare.”

Earlier in the month, the team had a camp for about two weeks in Cuttack, Orissa during which they played Vietnam just to lose 3-1. Despite the lost, the team is in good shape and is confident of doing well in the Asiad. The former JCT Coach is taking the whole squad to China as a precaution against any untoward incident uncalled for.

“This is because we are travelling to China at least two weeks before our first match and prior to that if we may have some injury or some player suffering from illness, we can immediately replace him,” pointed the experienced coach.

In the final draw, twenty four teams are divided into six groups with four team each. The winner of all the groups progressed into the Quarter Final while the two best team amongst the runners up also join the six winners.

So India,s chances of playing beyond the league stage is slim being grouped with Qatar and Kuwait. So, it now solely depends on the boys as to how they are going to keep the hope of Millions of Indians alive.

The Squad:
Goalkeepers : Karanjit Singh, Laxmikant Kattimani, Gurpreet Singh Sadhu
Defenders:      Denzil Franco, Abhishek Das, Robert Lalthalma, Rowilson Rodrigues, Raju Gaikwad,
Inderpreet Singh, Dharmaraj Ravanan, Lalrozama Fanai.
Midfielders:   Lalrindika Ralte, Joaquim Abranches, Jewel Raja Shaikh, Jibon Singh,
Manish Mathani, Shilton D’Silva, Tirthankar Sarkar, Subodh Kumar
Strikers:          Jeje Lalpekhlua, Balwant Singh, Jagtar Singh, Malsawmfela

Asian Games 2010, Guangzhou — Related Logo

16th Asian Games 2010 Logo

2010 Asian Games Mascot

Asian Games 2010 Pictogram

Asian Games 2010 Culture Logo

Guangzhou 2010 Environment Logo

2010 Asian Games Volunteer Logo

2010 Asian Games Mascot

Asian Games 2010 Mascot

2010 Asian Games Schedules

Sports A-Z	Date
Aquatics	Nov. 13th-26th
Archery	Nov. 19th-24th
Badminton	Nov. 13th-21st
Baseball	Nov. 13th-21st
Basketball	Nov. 13th-26th
Beach Volleyball
Billiard and other Cue Sports	Nov. 13th-20th
Bowling	Nov. 15th-24th
Boxing	Nov. 17th-25th
Canoeing/ Kayaking	Nov. 13th-26th
Chess (Chess, Weqi, Xiangqi)	Nov. 13th-26th
Cricket	Nov. 13th-26th
Cycling	Nov. 13th-25th
Dance	Nov. 13th-14th
Dragon Boat Racing	Nov. 18th-20th
Equestrian	Nov. 13th-25th
Fencing	Nov. 18th-23rd
Football	Nov. 7th-26th
Golf	Nov. 20th-23rd
Gymnastics	Nov. 13th-25th
Handball	Nov. 13th-24th
Hockey	Nov. 13th-25th
Judo	Nov. 13th-16th
Kabaddi	Nov. 22nd-25th
Karate	Nov. 23th-25th
Pentathlon (Modern)	Nov. 20th-21st
Roller Sports (Besides Cycling)	Nov. 23rd-26th
Rowing	Nov. 13th-18th
Rugby	Nov. 23rd-25th
Sailing	Nov. 13th-23rd
Sepaktakraw	Nov. 13th-24th
Shooting	Nov. 13th-19th
Softball	Nov. 19th-26th
Squash	Nov. 19th-26th
Table Tennis	Nov. 13th-20th
Taekwondo	Nov. 16th-19th
Tennis	Nov. 13th-23rd
Triathlon	Nov. 17th-18th
Volleyball	Nov. 13th-26th
Weightlifting	Nov. 13th-17th
Wrestling	Nov. 20th-25th
Wushu	Nov. 22nd-26th

Guangzhou all set to host 2010 Asian Games

THE 2010 Asian Games, also known as the 16th Asian Games are scheduled to take place in the Chinese city of Guangzhou from November 12 to November 27 2010. Guangzhou is the second city in China to host the Games after Beijing in 1990. A total of 476 events in 42 sporting disciplines will be contested by athletes, making it the largest event in history of Asian Games.
 
The Guangzhou Asian Games will feature 42 sports, including 28 Olympic sports and 14 non-Olympic sports. Some non Olympic games which will make their debut in the upcoming Asian Games includes Dragon Boat, Twenty20 cricket and dance sport.

Guangzhou was awarded the right on July 1, 2004. Guangzhou came after the withdrawal of several cities like Amman, Kuala Lumpur and Seoul. The games will also be co-hosted by Dongguan, Foshan and Shanwei, Guangzhou's neighbouring cities.

The events will be held across 53 venues and 17 training venues will be available for the Games. The Asian Games venues are Zhongda Gymnasium, Triathlon Venue, Huashi Gymnasium, Huangcun Sports Base, Huagong Stadium, Huagong Gymnasium, Guangyao Gymnasium, Guangwai Gymnasium, Guanggong Gymnasium, Guanggong Cricket Stadium, Guangda Gymnasium, Aoti Tennis Centre, Aoti Shooting Range, Aoti Main Stadium, Aoti Hockey Field, Aoti Baseball Field, Aoti Archery Range, Aoti Aquatics Centre, University Town Main Stadium, Tianhe Tennis School, Tianhe Stadium, Tianhe Softball Field, Tianhe Natatorium, Tianhe Bowling Hall, Tainhe Gymnasium, Shanwei Water Sports Centre, International Rowing Centre, Guangzhou Velodrome, Guangzhou Shotgun Centre, Guangzhou Gymnasium, Guangzhou Equestrian Venue, Guangzhou Chess Institute, Guangti Gymnasium, Guangdong People's Stadium, Guangdong Gymnasium, Zengcheng Gymnasium, Zengcheng Dragon Boat Lake, Nansha Stadium, Huangpu Stadium, Huangpu Gymnasium, Huadu Stadium, Foshan Gymnasium, Foshan Aquatics Centre, Dragon Lake Golf Club, Dongguan Gymnasium, Dafushan Mountain Bike CourseBeach Volleyball Venue, Asian Fames Town Gymnasium.
 
The Sixteenth Asian Games 2010 will mark the attendance of various sports event like Dance/Kayak, Cycling, Boxing, Bowling, Billiard Sports, Basketball, Baseball, Badminton, Athletics, Archery, Aquatics, Modern Pentathlon, Karate, Kabaddi, Judo, Hockey, Handball, Gymnastics, Golf, Football, Fencing, Equestrian, Dragon Boat, Dance Sport, Cricket, Chess, Wushu Wrestling, Weightlifting, Volleyball, Triathlon, Tennis, Taekwondo, Table Tennis, Squash, Softball, Shooting, Sepaktakraw, Sailing, Rugby, Rowing, Roller Sports.
 

The opening ceremony will be held on November 12, 2010 on Haixinsha Island in the Pearl River. Opening ceremony will begin at 20:04 (local time) and Asian Games closing ceremony will be held on November 27, 2010, with the performances to begin at 20:06 (local time).