Thinley Namgay
China – Fourteen athletes remain to contest at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China after 12 athletes in five sports have exited as of yesterday.
Two swimmers, three boxers, three judokas, three taekwondo athletes, and an air rifle shooter have been eliminated.
The remaining athletes will compete in recurve and compound archery, golf, badminton, air pistol shooting, karate, taekwondo, and athletics. Athletes remain in high spirits.
Taekwondo athlete Nima Wangdi will face Duisebay Smaiyl of Kazakhstan in the men’s +80kg weight category, and shooter Tandin Wangchuk will contest in the 10-metre (m) air pistol individual game today.
Swimmers Kinley Lhendup and Sangay Tenzin couldn’t proceed to the next round yesterday. Kinley Lhendup completed the race in 1min and 3secs in his heat against swimmers from the Maldives, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. He was fourth among five swimmers.
Sangay Tenzin contended against three other swimmers from Mongolia, Palestine and Tajikistan in the men’s 200m freestyle. Despite his effort, Sangay couldn’t win, as he finished the race in 2mins and 7secs, and stood last among four swimmers.
Since the commencement of the Games on September 24, Bhutan has not won. Regardless of the result, the exited participants tried their best against Asia’s finest athletes.
The total number of delegations including athletes and officials in this Games is about 17,543. There are 11,831 athletes, including 6,947 males and 4,884 females from 45 Asian countries competing in 481 events in 40 sports.
Many athletes talk of the 19th Asian Games being the best to date.
Hangzhou, located in Zhejiang Province is a modern city with diverse green technologies and the climate is favourable for athletes. The city is clean. The majority of helpers at the Asian Games are youth. The food counters for athletes and officials remain open 24 hours.
The opening ceremony on September 23, displayed the “virtual and reality integration” lighting for the first time in the history of any international sports competition.