HANGZHOU – On Saturday night this rich capital city will not just be known as the best commercial metropolis in mainland China.
The 19th Asian Games comes off the wraps at the Olympic Sports Expo Center in what promises to be the biggest ever staging in the 72-year history of the meet.
See Roster set: Gilas Pilipinas to stick with Ross, Alas, Tolentino, Perez
A record number of 12,417 athletes are set to participate in 40 sports and 481 events spread in the next 16 days when the best of the best in the Asian region compete against each other for glory and honor.
Of the record figure, 395 represents Team Philippines led by world No. 2 pole vaulter EJ Obiena, Olympic gold medal winner Hidilyn Diaz, and a number of world-class and battle-scarred athletes seeking to equal or even surpass the four gold medals the country won during the 2018 edition of the Asiad in Palembang, Jakarta.
The 27-year-old Obiena, coming off a silver medal performance in the recent World Athletics Championship, shares the spotlight with reigning Asiad skateboarding champion Margielyn Didal as the country’s flagbearers during the traditional parade of nations that serves as highlight of the colorful opening ceremony prepared by the host and to be beamed live before a billion audience worldwide.

The Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee (HAGOC) vowed to put on a show like no other.
Pushed back by the COVID-19 pandemic from its original schedule last year, the Asiad finally goes full blast as the largest ever in scale, events, and coverage that not even the threat of an evening rain during the opener could dampen the ecstatic mood of a city known as an e-commerce and technology hub that is home to some of the world’s billionaires.
Chinese President XI Jinping will be the guest of honor during the festive opening ceremony where he’s expected to declare the Games open.
The elaborate program that is expected to last for more than an hour will show the past and present culture of the city through background screens, glass-free 3D animations, and special performances.
Worth watching is the special lighting of the cauldron by a virtual torchbearer.
A group of robots proclaiming the host’s profound heritage and contemporary vibrancy serves as the meet’s mascots namely, Lianlian Congcong, Chenchen.
The theme of this year’s Asiad is ‘Heart to Heart, @Future.
“It carries the message for the youth and the world that we look for peace and harmony through sports. So in that manner, you can’t get a better slogan than ‘heart to heart,” said acting Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) president Raja Randhir Singh.
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