19th Asian Games concludes in Hangzhou, China

The baton for the next Asian Games has been passed on to Nagoya, Japan for 2026. The closing ceremony of the 19th Asian Games concluded at the Hangzhou Olympics Stadium in China on Sunday. Hockey player P. R. Sreejesh was the flag bearer for India. The glittering ceremony saw more than 2000 performers put on a dazzling display, celebrating the love and unity between all the participating countries.

 

Raja Randhir Singh, the interim president of the Olympic Council of Asia or OCA, handed over the first Asian Games flag, the current flag and the torch to the Japanese side, marking the official end of the 19th edition of the Games. 

Nagoya which is set to organise the 20th edition is the capital of



Japan’s Aichi Prefecture, located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu. Governor of Aichi Prefecture, Hideaki Omura, waved the flag of the OCA during the handover ceremony.

 

More than 12,000 athletes from 45 nations competed in 40 sports at the Games, which were delayed for a year due to COVID-19.   The Indian contingent won 107 medals- 28 gold, 38 silver, and 41 bronze at Hangzhou. In the previous edition of the Games at Jakarta in 2018, India was only able to secure 70 medals. This is the first time that the country has crossed the benchmark of 101 medals in any of the three major Games including the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games.