2023-09-23 22:06:26
The activities of the 19th Asian Games were officially opened yesterday and will continue until the eighth of next October, with the participation of 12,000 athletes from 45 Asian countries, participating in 40 sports, through 61 disciplines and 481 competitions, and their competitions are held in 54 sports facilities, and the UAE participates in 20 sports. Individual and group.
The tournament was opened by Chinese President Xi Jinping, in the presence of a number of world heads of state and senior public and sports figures, at the Hangzhou “Big Lotus” Olympic Stadium, with a crowd of 80,000 spectators in attendance.
The UAE flag was carried by our national cycling team player, Ahmed Al Mansouri, and the UAE national team thrower, Ghaya Shuhail Al Shuhail, in the parade queue, in the presence of the participating UAE delegation.
The ceremony witnessed 16 diverse segments that lasted for 120 dazzling minutes, highlighting the culture and heritage of the host country, focusing on all practices that support sustainability and environmental preservation, while highlighting features of ancient civilizations and the high tides in Asia.
Today, the national teams begin their journey in the tournament in six sports, as the judo team opens the tournament’s competitions with lightweight competitions, amid great ambitions, with the participation of 203 male and female players from 28 countries, including seven Arab countries: the Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and Yemen.
The draw for the competition took place the day before yesterday, and resulted in strong confrontations for the national team, as the national team player, Bashirat Kharudi, faced the North Korean champion, Wei Kim, in the under-52 kg weight category, and Batsu Altan, with Frisie Clemence, from the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, in the weight category. Under 57 kg. The men’s competition will witness the holding of six matches in the light, medium and heavyweight competitions over the three days, where our player Narmand Bayan, in the weight of under 66 kg, will face the winner of the match between the Yemeni Saeed Saad and the Thai Poontanam, while the player Abdul Karim Ali will play in the weight of under 73 kg with North Korean Kim, and in the under-81 kg competition, our player Talal Shafeli meets the Japanese Ueno Yohei, and in the under-90 kg heavyweight matches, our player Gregory Aram meets the winner of the match between the Uzbek Davlat and the Vietnamese Bu Anh Tai. As for the player, Dhafer Kosovo, he will meet in the under-100 kg competition, with the Lebanese Nassif Elias, and the team will conclude its journey in the Asian tournament with a meeting between Omar Marouf, and the Kyrgyzstan champion Zabarov Simek, in the over-100 kg weight category. Today, the rugby team competitions, which are held over three days, begin, with the national team facing its Nepalese counterpart at 11:40 China time, then it will meet the Afghanistan team at 16:50, and in conclusion it will face the Chinese team at 20:10. Our national shooting team will also begin its journey tomorrow with the 10-meter rifle competition, with shooter Yasmine Tahlak, while the fencing team will participate in the tournament’s activities today, with players Zainab Al-Hosani and Sheikha Al-Zaabi, in the women’s epee competition.
The e-sports team will open its participation in the tournament in the first official appearance of the game in the Asian Games, following it was approved experimentally in the last edition in Jakarta in 2018, as the team participates today in the FIFA game, through Ahmed Al-Suwaidi meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart, Truong Duc. Hugh, and Ali Al-Hammadi to his counterpart Ahmed Al-Mughaysib from Qatar, and in the smart game, which witnesses the participation of 142 male and female players from 45 Asian countries, both Wafia Al-Maamari and Rawda Al-Sarkal participate in the competitions (individuals category).
Sajwani: The competition for the top positions will be very difficult
The Assistant Secretary of the Judo Federation, Muhammad Jassim Sajwani, confirmed that “the national team is ready to compete in the Asian Games following the successful preparation period, which the team concluded in the Tokyo camp in Japan for 15 days,” and he said in press statements: “Our preparations for the Asian Games were good. We will make every effort to honor UAE sports and achieve the best results, especially since the tournament is considered a major milestone in the journey to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.”
Sajwani explained that “the competition for the first places will be very difficult, in light of the participation of many Asian world champions, and the presence of strong teams such as Japan, China, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Iran and Mongolia,” noting that “these teams have a history in the sport of judo on the Asian level. “What ignites the competition and makes it very difficult.”
Al Marzouqi: The fencing team includes promising elements
The manager of the national fencing team, Ali Al Marzouqi, confirmed the readiness of the female players of the UAE fencing team to take part in the continental challenge, pointing out that the team includes many promising elements at the men’s and girls’ level, but the goal is to interact and gain experience when competing with fencers from various countries of the Asian continent. Zainab Al Hosani, ranked first in the country, and Sheikha Al Zaabi, second, are competing in the event for the purpose of developing and refining capabilities to achieve better results in future forums.
Al Zaabi: The rugby goal is a “historic medal”
The Secretary-General of the UAE Rugby Federation, Mohammed Al Zaabi, said, “Preparations for our national team’s participation in the Asian Games began three months ago, and the team is ready for the Asian challenge.”
He added: “The goal of participating in the tournament is to achieve a historic medal for the rugby team, following the first experience in Jakarta 2018, which was not up to expectations,” noting that “the rugby team has improved greatly over what it was five years ago, and has advanced to the third classification in Asia.” .
He continued: “We are playing in the fourth group with China, Afghanistan, and Nepal, and our goal is to rise to first place until we face the second-placed team in the first group.”
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