Torch Run |
General |
Cash Rewards |
Injury woes |
Badminton
Cycling |
Football |
Golf |
Gymnastics |
Swimming |
Taekwondo |
Wushu
Torch Run:
The Asian Games torch was lit by His Majesty King Bhumipol Adulyadej.
The Asian Games torch was lit by His Majesty King Bhumipol Adulyadej in the Royal Palace using an ancient magnifying glass and the blazing Bangkok sun to light to light the "Royal" flame. The flame was carried in a miniature golden carriage from Chitrlada Palace to nearby Sanam Luang park where it will be displayed until Sunday. It will then be relayed to the opening ceremony by more than 200 VIPs, celebrities and athletes. Based on traditional Thai beliefs and on the IX reign of the present dynasty, the auspicious timing for the torch run on December 6 will be from 9:09 to 19:09.
Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai and Sheik Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah, chief of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), are to lead the torch run. Chuan will lead the torch run starting from Bangkok's Sanam Luang ground and pass the torch to OCA chief. Bhichai Rattakul, Deputy Prime Minister and chairman of the Games organizing body, and Gen Chetta Thanajaro, chief of the Olympic Committee of Thailand, will also carry the torch before it is passed on to other well-known Thais including top athletes, businessmen and representatives of Thailand's 76's provinces.
The run involves 216 athletes who will carry the torch over a 100 km run on Dec 6 before the torch arrives at the Rajamangala stadium, Bangkok for the evening opening ceremony on Dec 6. The Asian Games will be officially opened by King Bhumipol.
Meanwhile, the Bangkok police is making its rounds to strip-bars, warning owners to ensure that girls are not topless and must wear bikinis during the Asian Games period, and strictly follow the 2 am close order for entertainement outlets.
General:
Sri Lanka sending its largest ever 'Jumbo Team' for the Asiad.
Sri Lanka is sending a total of 128 sportspersons and officials to the 13th Asian Games, making this the largest ever contingent. "The Jumbo Team", as it is called by local Press, will compete in 12 of the 36 disciplines and hunt for country's first goal medal in 24 years. Sri Lanka won the gold in 4x400 metres rela in 1974 Games at Tehran. National athletic coach Dervin Perera expects his team to bring home five to six athletics gold in the men's 4x400m, women's 100m, 200m, 400m and 4x400m relay. His stars include Susanthika Jayasinghe, the controversial world silver medallist, who has since been given conditional permission to participate in the Asiad pending arbitration
on her dope test failure matter. Susanthika is going for gold in the 100 m and 200 m sprint. Sri Lanka is also looking at medals from Damayanthi Darsha and Sriyani Kulawansa. Both won golds in the recent Fukuoka Asian track-and-field meet.
Perera believes Sri Lanka's the biggest challenge in women's events would come from China, Japan and Khazakastan. Qatar was expected to pose a challenge in the 4x400 metres relay and 400 metres for men.
Besides athetics, Sri Lanka would compete in golf, rugby, shooting, yatching, billiards, snooker, kabaddi, squash, badminton, boxing, gymnastics, teakwondo and swimming.
General:
Japans spot overall second placing at this Asiad.
Japan is sending its largest ever contingent to this Asiad, comprising of 635 athletes and 331 officials. Japan is hoping to bag 70 gold medals. Teruji Kogake, Japan's team leader said, "We target to win 70 gold medals. We consider the Asian Games as a stepping stone to the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000."
Several of their top stars will be missing, including Asian tennis Mo 1 Ai Sugiyama, Chire Koyama, who won the world table-tennis title for China, three-time world judo champion Ryoko Tamura and sprinter Nobuharu Asahara, through unavailability or injury.
The swimmers, Kogake said, hold the key to Japanese aspirations, with women competitors Mai Nakamura, Sumika Minamoto, Ayari Aoyama and Yasuko Tajima top medal contenders. One-time world-record holder 16-year old Aoyama took the world 100m, while 19-year old Nakamura clinched the 100-metre backstroke silver and 200-metre bronze at the World Championships in January.
Kogake added that Japan is the underdogs to China in the overall medals table but emphasised that "I'm confident that we will take second place in the overall championships." In the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games, official medals table shows China with 137 golds, 92 silvers and 60 bronzes, compared to South Korea's tally of 63-53-63 and Japan's 59-68-80. But with the later disqualification of several Chinese women swimmers following drugs tests, gives them 64 golds to South Korea's 63.
Cash Rewards:
Filipino Asiad Medals to get cash rewards.
President Joseph Estrada announced yesterday an incentive of Peso 2 million for Filipino gold medalist, Peso 1 million for a silver medal and Peso 500,000 for a bronze. The prize money for the gold will come from Philippine Sports Commission and other sponsors, while the amount for the silver and bronze will come from Estrada's government discretionary fund. The Philippines won three golds at the last Games in Hiroshima -- all in boxing.
The incentives, the highest on record in Philippines, is expected to spur the squad to win medals. Estrada promised to be in Bangkok from 18 to 20 December to personally cheer the squad. Philippines is sending a delegation of 258 athletes and officials, who will be leaving for Bangkok tommorrow. Of these, some 100 athletes, mainly in the track and field events, are paying their own for the Games.
With the cash awards, Philippines joins the league of Asian nations giving out cash rewards to their national squad members for bringing back medals in the Asiad. The countries include Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, South Korea, China, Kuwait and Thailand. See Related Story.
Injury woes:
India's tennis ace Paes and track queen Usha on injury woes.
India's two world-class players at the Asiad are sufferring from injuries. India's Paes is recuperating from a knee injury, while Usah sustained a hamstring injury in a recent meet.
Tennis star Paes suffered his ankle injury injury during the world doubles championships last month. Paes, Asia's top-ranked player at world No. 91, is now unlikely to chase his goal of three golds. However, Paes and his partner Mahesh Bhupathy, the world's second-ranked doubles pair, will remain hot favorites to win the team and men's doubles competitions. Paes won the team and doubles event at the last Asian Games in Hiroshima, but lost in the singles semi-final to Yong Yoon Il of South Korea, a defeat he was keen to avenge.
Usha confounded critics during the Asian track and field championships in Fukuoka, Japan in July this year with a gold and silver in the relays and two bronze medals in the 200 and 400 meters. It was a remarkable comeback for the ageing star (now 35 years of age) who hit the headlines 16 years ago with two silver medals at the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi. She followed that with four golds and a silver at Seoul four years later. Indian track and field officials confirmed Usha will still run the individual races but have named a standbye for the relays Ä India's best bet Ä in case she is not fully fit.
Badminton:
Badminton seeding announced. China top seed, Indonesia third.
China, led by their powerful singles are the top seeds, while Indonesia are seeded third, after Malaysia. South Korea, who will parade veterans Ahn Jae-chang and Park Sung-woo, are fourth. India and Japan are seeded fifth and sixth respectively. The match groupings and play-offs will be made by the Asian Games organisers on Saturday.
The seeding took Malaysia by surprise, as Malaysia, who have four shuttlers in the World Grand Prix Finals in February, will only have two to take up the challenge in Bangkok. While Malaysia should not have any problems making the semifinals, they have a tough task of qualifying for the final because they are drawn to meet arch-rivals Indonesia in the semifinals.
Both Indonesia and Malaysia have injury problems, but Indonesia, the Thomas Cup champions, still have their best doubles for the Games: World No 1 Ricky Subagja-Rexy Mainaky and Tony Gunawan-Candra Wijaya.
while Malaysia is sending untested pairs Pang Cheh Chang-Cheah Soon Thoe and Jeremy Gan-Chan Choong Ming, after the Choong Tan Fook-Cheah Soon Kit pair was dropped due to Choon's eye injury.
Malaysia is fielding Roslin Hashim and Yong Hock Kin are in the squad while Ong Ewe Hock is out injured and veteran Rashid Sidek was not considered. In the Hong Kong Open recently, Indonesia's Budi Santosa, who will be joining the Squad, defeated China's Chen Gang. Chen Gang had earlier won against Malaysia's Roslin Hashim.
Badminton:
China and Malaysia top qualifiers for World Grand Prix Final.
The International Badminton Federation has announced the qualifies for the World Grand Prix Final in Brunei beginning on Feb 4. China's shuttlers are All-England champion Sun Jun, Dong Jiong, Luo Yigang and Chen Gang, while All-England finalist Ong Ewe Hock, Indonesian Open champion Yong Hock Kin, Dutch Open champion Roslin Hashim and veteran Rashid Sidek will carry Malaysia's hopes. It is learnt that the IBF have seeded the teams based on the players' current form.
The rankings follow:
MEN Singles: Yong Hock Kin, Ong Ewe Hock, Rashid Sidek, Roslin Hashim (Mas); Sun Jun, Luo Yigang, Dong Jiong, Chen Gang (Ch), Peter-Gade Christensen, Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen, Kenneth Jonassen (Den), Hendrawan, Heryanto Arbi, Budi Santoso (Indon), Jeroen Van Dijk (Hol), Thomas Johansson (Swe).
MEN Doubles: Ricky Subagja-Rexy Manaiky, Tony Gunawan-Heryanto Halim, Limpele Flandy-Eng Hian, Denny Kantono-Budi Antonius (Indon), Zhang Wei-Zhang Jun (Ch), Jens Erikksen-Jesper Larsen (Den), Chris Hunt-Simon Archer (Eng), Peter Axelsson-Par-Gunnar Jonsson (Swe).
WOMEN Singles: Ye Zhaoying, Gong Zhicao, Zhang Ning, Dai Yun, Zhao Mi (Ch), Camilla Martin, Mette Pedersen (Den), Mia Audina, Susi Susanti (Indon), Yasuko Mizui (Jpn), Kim Hi-jyun (SK), Kelly Morgan (Wales).
WOMEN Doubles: Ge Fei-Gu Jun, Qin Qinyuan-Tang Hetian, Yang Wei-Huang Nanyan (Ch), Marlene Thomsen-Rikke Olsen, Ann Jorgensen-Majken Vange (Den), Joanne Goode-Donna Kellogg (Eng), Eliza-Denyana Lomban (Indon), Haruko Matsudo-Yoshiko Iwata (Jpn).
Mixed doubles: Michael Soogaard-Rikke Olsen, Jens Erikksen-Marlene Thomsen, Jon-Holst Christensen-Ann Jorgensen (Den), Chris Hunt-Donna Kellogg, Simon Archer-Joanne Goode (Eng), Trikus Heryanto-Minarti Timur (Indon), Quinten Van Dalm-Nicole Van Hooren (Hol), Kim Dong-moon-Ra Kyung-min (SK).
Cycling:
Dropped Malaysian cyclist upstages contenders at Tour of Johor.
Suhaimi Keton, who was dropped from the Malaysian squad to the Asian Games, upstaged the more-fancied riders from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Indonesia for a surprise to win the second stage of the Tour of Johor championships yesterday. He completed the 138km race from Johor Baru to Mersing in 3'19:37 ahead of Uzbekistan's Arkov Sergey and Kazakhstan's Titov Valery, while the he Asian Games trio of Nor Effendy Rosli, Shahrul Neeza Razali and Mohd Mahazir Hamap finished in the second group. In the first lap, Nor Effendy finished second place. The third stage of over 107km starts is scheduled today.
Football:
Thailand to use lightning fast strikes against Oman.
Thailand's Football team Assistant manager Virach Chanpanich said his team will go to into the match against Oman today with emphasis on attack, using the lightning fast strikers Worrawoot Srimak and Kiatisuk Senamuang to spearhead a 3-5-2 formation, the same used to defeat Hong Kong 5-0 on Wednesday. Thawatchai Damrong-Ongtrakul and Choketawee Promrut will replace Sanor Longsawang and Kritsada Piandit, who were injured in the match against Hong Kong.
English adviser Peter Withe cautioned that even though Oman emphasises defence, they are quick to take advantage of scoring opportunities, as witness the opening round match against Hong Kong which they won 6-0.
Other fixtures today are: (Group A) Vietnam against South Korea at Nakorn Sawan's provincial stadium, (Group B) Lebanon versus Cambodia at Surat Thani's provincial stadium, and (Group F) Thailand versus Oman at the National Stadium. All games start at 3:51 pm.
Football:
India holds Japan to a narrow 1-0 loss. Kazaks rout Laos 5-0.
India, returning to the Asian Games after 12 years, played well to hold Japan to a goalless first half before Kenji Fukinda struck the winner for Japan in the 55th minute.
Japan, one of the strong contenders for the title after their country's impressive run in reaching the World Cup finals in France, could not dominate the way they did while thashing Nepal, the other team in the group, by a huge 5-0 margin in their opening clash on Nov 30. With the second straight win in the three-team Group C, Japan tops the pool and move into the next round, while India will need to beat Nepal to win a berth in the Second round.
For India, the match was one to cherish. In a pre-Asiad friendly with Uzbekistan in Calcutta, the Indian team was trashed 5-0 by the invitees. India's rebound is probably due to coach Syed Nayeemuddin's tactics of tightening the defence with the midfielders falling back in support helped India hold their rivals at bay.
In other matches, Kuwait held defending champions Uzbekistan 3-all in Group G. Fyodorv opened the scoring in the fourth minute goal for the Uzbeks. Aheeb drew level in the 27th minute and Kuwait took the lead in the 43rd minute throgh Al Houwaidi. Uzbekistan went 3-2 ahead through goals in the 67th and 76th minutes by Khovosthnov and A Koryants respectively. Aheeb levelled the scores in the 90th minute.
In Group H, Kazakhstan beat Laos 5-0. Zubarev scored a second-half hattrick with goals in the 53rd, 56th and 88th minutes. Earlier Makayev (32) and Niyazymbetov (40) had put Kazakhstan 2-0 up. In Group D, Qatar beat Tajikistan 2-1. Naseer and Mubarak scored for the winners in the 31st and 51st minutes, while Bjabarov drew one back for the losers off a 90th-minute penalty.
See Football Results and Pool Tables.
Football:
Korean Coach Huh Frustrated With Soccer Team's Dismal Play.
Head coach Huh Jung Mu came hard on his players for their dismal performance at Wednesday's match against Turkmenistan, when it lost 3-2. South Korea is a gold medal contender, and the dismal opening performance, made Huh understandably upset.
"Lee Dong Kook was like walking with his head in the clouds and striker Choi Yong Soo, in spite of his two goals, missed too many opportunities. Our defense was penetrated far too easily," he said. He went on to openly scold Lee, "This kimd of dreaming attitude at young age does not guarantee a bright future on this team." Huh will bench Lee for the second game scheduled today against this year's Tiger Cup winner Vietnam. Korea must win this match against Vietnam to remain in the Asiad football tournament.
Golf:
India sends golf squad.
India is sending a 9-member golf squad, who will compete in individual and team events in both men's and women's categories. India hopes to repeat repeat its gold medal-winning performance of 1982 Delhi Asian Games. India's women's team is participating for the first time since the event was introduced in the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing. The squad includes Nonita Lal Qureshi, the Arjuna Award winner.
Gymnastics:
Physchological warfare starts before the Games.
China, who bagged all 6 gold, 5 silvers and a bronze in the Hiroshima Asian Games in 1994, has started its physchological warfare against other gymnasts. China has identified Kazakhstan, Japan and South Korea as main rivals in its contention for another clean sweep at this Asiad.
In the training session yesterday, China's coach Xie Zhimin made the Kazakhs and their two coaches wait in the sidelines for China's Liu Xuan to finish perfecting her routine to her satisfaction. It was only when Xie Zhimin trooped out with her gymnasts, that the Kazakhs took over. It is quite an experience to be overwhelmed by the power of the champions who have worked hard to find sporting excellence. Other Chinese gymnasts at yesterday's training included Meng Feng, Kui Yuanyuan, Bi Wenjing, Ling Jie and Xu Jing
Swimming:
Thai ace rumored sick, Malaysia's in upbeat mood for the Asiad.
Thailand's Ratapong (Nuk) Sirisanont, the dual gold medallist at the Hiroshima Asian Games, was rumored to be sick and may do even worse than in last year's Jakarta SEA Games when he failed to live up to expectations. Chinese coach Gao Yong Tong who has been looking after Ratapong since the swimmer returned from the United States in September, however, allayed fears saying, Nuk only had an allergy and he went to get some medicine. "I don't care about all the criticisms. They [the media] are doing their job and I am doing mine," Nuk said.
Nuk made his debut at the 16th SEA Games in the Philippines at the tender age of 15, where he scooped up four silvers and two bronzes. Two years later he bagged three gold medals for Thailand and set three new games records in the 17th SEA Games in Singapore. He came second the 200m and 400m individual medley, but received the gold after the first place China's Xiong Gouming was disqualified in a dope test. In the SEA Games in Chieng Mai in 1995, he won six gold medals and bettered five games' records, and was his peak performance. At the recent Jakarta SEA Games, he managed only two gold and two silver medals.
In another news, Malaysia's 18-year old swimmer Lim Keng Liat, remains in an upbeat mood despite the stiff challenge he faces in Bangkok from Chinese and Japanese swimmers. Lim, a backstroke specialist, said, "I wish to strike gold in the backstroke this time. Two silvers in the last Games only served to spur me on." Lim won gold in the 100m butterfly but was upstaged in his pet events. In Jakarta last year, he won one gold and three silvers.
Lim did not waste much time after the Commonwealth Games and headed back to Florida to continue training under coach Larry Shofe. A specific training programme in the last six weeks has given the soft-spoken Lim the much-needed confidence for a good Bangkok outing.
His national records: 56.62s in the 100m backstroke, set at the Jakarta Sea Games; and 2.02.29s in the 200m set during the Commonwealth Games.
Taekwondo:
Featherweight gold medallist Lai Yen still depressed after defeat.
Asian Games bound exponent Soo Lai Yen, the recent Commonwealth Games gold medallist in the featherweight category, has been depressed ever since competing in the Inter-Club taekwondo championships last month, when she surprisingly lost to Low Khee Ching in the semi-finals and had to settle for the bronze.
Lai Yen bagged a silver medal in the Asian Festival Sports in China in August. National coach Ben Wong said that "It will be an uphill task for her to win a medal. But it will all very much depend on the draw as well."
The Malaysian Taekwondo Association (MTA) are banking on Asian bronze medallist Lee Wan Yuen to bag a medal in the heavyweight category. The other exponents selected for the Asiad are Asian bronze medallist, S. Sarawanan (featherweight), and Jakarta SEA Games gold medallist Malcolm Joseph Joe (bantamweight). Malaysia took 3 bronze medals in the Hiroshima Asian Games in 1994.
Wushu:
Filipino wushu artists priming for impressive finish.
Philippines Wushu secretary general Edwin Pimentel said the Filipino wushu artists are priming up, and with a break in the match-ups, could make an impressive finish to garner gold medals in the upcoming Asian games.
Wushu, a martial arts of Chinese origin, is split into two categories: the Taulu" or routine exercise and the "Sanshou" or actual combat. Philippines is fielding a total of nine Wushu players: five will strut their wares in Taulu, while four will do battle in Sanshou. The Taulu participants include SEA Games gold medalists' Alfonso Que and Bobby Kho, World Wushu champion Mark Robu Rosales, national champion Jennifer Li, and Asian youth silver medalist Hershey Craga. Competing in Sanshou are World championship silver medalist Roly Chulhang and brother Roger, who placed fourth in the said event; SEA Games gold medalist Jerome Lumabas, and silver medalist Ronald Bingwaoel.
Pimentel conceded that China, Taiwan and Hong Kong have relatively strong teams also, especially in Taulu, but remains confident of his team's performance in the Asaid. "Like I said before, determination will also play a huge role. If our athletes pour their hearts out, we could probably score an upset," said Pimentel.
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