Courtney DittmarOctober 03, 2023Comment

Asian Games wrap up their first week in Hangzhou, China

Courtney DittmarOctober 03, 2023Comment

The two-week Asian Games featuring 12,500 participants from 45 nations and territories have completed their first week in China.

The opening ceremony in the packed 80,000-seat Olympic Sports Center Stadium in Hangzhou featured electronic flash, 3D animations and a virtual torchbearer.

Many of the 481 events offer a chance for smaller delegations to win medals, which is often impossible at the Olympics. The regional fare includes dragon boat racing, sepaktakraw — sometimes called “kick volleyball” — wushu, a Chinese martial art, and kabaddi, a popular contact sport on the Indian subcontinent.

Add to this a long list of what organizers call “mind sports” from bridge to chess to xiangqi (Chinese chess) to esports like League of Legends.

Chinese swimmer Wang Shun holds the torch to light the cauldron with a digital torchbearer inn background during the opening ceremony of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

South Korea’s League of Legends team won not only the gold medal but also an exemption from military service at home. In South Korea, the law exempts athletes, classical and traditional musicians, and ballet and other dancers from military service if they have obtained top prizes in certain competitions and are assessed to have enhanced national prestige.

The youngest member of the nearly 900-strong delegation from China, a 13-year-old skateboarder, is going home with a gold medal in women’s street skateboarding. Cui Chenxi is already planning for next year’s Paris Olympics.

Nine sports at the Asian Games offer qualification spots for the Olympics — archery, artistic swimming, boxing, breaking, hockey, modern pentathlon, sailing, tennis, and water polo.

Liang Jianhao, left, of China competes against Kim Junho of South Korea during their men's sabre team finals fencing event of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Palak of India prepares to shoot on her way to gold at the Shooting 10m Air Pistol Women Final of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Thirteen-year-old Cui Chenxi, from China, celebrates with her gold medal during the awards ceremony for skateboarding women's street final at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)

Teams of Taiwan and South Korea compete during the Esport League of Legends final at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)

Bahrain's Noora Salem Jasim competes during the women's shot put final at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

China's Zhou Zeqi and Uzbekistan's Osipova Svetlana compete during the taekwondo women's +67kg semifinal at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)

Performers wait for the opening ceremony of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Yun Boeun of South Korea competes on the uneven bars at the women's team artistic gymnastics event of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Competitors from Taiwan and Hong Kong take part in the Bridge Women's Team Round Robin event for the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

China's Shiyan Xu, left, fights Kazakhstan's Kamila Berlikash during the women+78kg of the mixed team bronze medal judo match between China and Kazakhstan at 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

The crowd cheers with Chinese flags during the opening ceremony of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)

Japan's Miki Ishii, right, paired with Sayaka Mizoe, not in picture, plays against Floremel Rodriguez and Genesa Jane Eslapor of Philippines during Women's beach volleyball quarterfinal match at the 19th Asian Games in Ningbo, China, Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

India's Sanjay passes the ball during the preliminary men's Pool A hockey match between Singapore and India at the Gongshu Canal Park Stadium in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

South Korea's Lee Dabin, left, and China's Zhou Zeqi react after the taekwondo women's +67kg final at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)

Silver medalist Malaysia's Tan Cheong Min cries on the podium during the award ceremony for the Wushu Women's Nanquan & Nandao All-Round competition for the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Thailand's Siripon Kaewduang-Ngam, right, and Ngai Wai Yan of Hong Kong, left, compete in the women's RS:X class final race at Ningbo Xiangshan Sailing Center at the 19th Asian Games in Ningbo, China, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Iran's Hanieh Rajabi competes in the Wushu Women's Nanquan competition for the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

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Hong Kong's James Murray Christie runs to score a try during the men's semifinal Rugby Sevens match between Hong Kong and Japan at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)

Military salute at the Chinese flag during the opening ceremony of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

China's Feng He, in blue, fights Iran's Mohsen Mohammadseifi in the Wushu men's 70kg final at 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

People take pictures of Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium during the light & show performance ahead of the 19th Asian Games along the riverside in Hangzhou, China, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

A worker with a costume of Lianlian, one of three Hangzhou Asian Games mascots, is help to prepare for the award ceremony of men's beach volleyball at the 19th Asian Games in Ningbo, China, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Team Japan celebrates after winning gold in the women's 4x100m Medley Relay final at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)