BAHRAIN’S flag was raised yesterday in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan ahead of tomorrow’s official start of the 20th Asian Games.
Members of the kingdom’s delegation, led by Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) executive director of operations and Bahrain’s chef de mission Ahmed Abdulghaffar, participated in yesterday’s flag-raising ceremony at the athletes’ village of this Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) spectacle.
Abdulghaffar also took part in a commemorative ‘Tree-Planting for Asian Unity’, held during the welcome formalities, which also featured a series of traditional Japanese performances.
Others on hand for yesterday’s activities were administrative team officials of Bahrain’s delegation along with boxers Ali Abdalla, Omar Budhahei, Hamsa Vogel, and Jorge Luis Lobaina, their head coach John Conlan, and his assistant coach Mohammed Naseem.
The opening ceremony of this year’s Asiad tomorrow will be held at Nagoya’s 30,000-capacity Paloma Mizuho Stadium. It is scheduled for a 12noon start, Bahrain time.
The BOC has yet to announce Bahrain’s flag-bearers for the parade of nations.
Bahrain are one of 45 delegations flying the flags of the OCA’s member nations this year in Aichi-Nagoya.
The kingdom’s representatives have a large number of athletes who will be battling for the podium amongst the 11,000 participating athletes, both men and women, in 43 sports.
The kingdom’s medal hopefuls are set to compete in athletics, handball, 3x3 basketball, weightlifting, judo, road cycling, shooting, wrestling, taekwondo, jiu-jitsu, boxing, badminton, esports, swimming, table tennis, and triathlon.
The senior men’s five-on-five basketball national team have also already completed their participation. They have bowed out of further contention but also made history by advancing to the quarter-final stage for the first time after five previous appearances, ensuring their best-ever finish on the Asiad hardwood.
Bahrain are taking part for the 14th time in the world’s biggest multi-sport event outside of the Olympics. The kingdom first participated in 1974 and have been going for gold in each Asiad edition since.
Bahrain have won a total of 104 medals in past editions of the Asian Games, including 49 gold, 27 silver, and 28 bronze. Their best medal haul came in 2018 in Jakarta-Palembang, Indonesia, where they bagged a sensational 26 medals, including 12 gold, seven silver, and seven bronze.
In the previous edition of the quadrennial spectacle in 2022 in Hangzhou, China, the Bahrainis captured 20 medals, headlined by 12 gold and including three silver and five bronze.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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