VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The 19th Asian Games has started being held in Hangzhou, China since Saturday (23/9), and it will last until October 8, 2023. The biggest multi-sport event in Asia was postponed a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The organizing committee stated that the Asian Games 2023 has the slogan "Heart to Heart, @Future" expressing the ambition to unite the nations of Asia through the sports event. It is the right slogan considering the geopolitical tension and rivalry that overshadowed the Asian Games 2023.

There were more participants during the Asian Games 2023 opening on Saturday (23/9) than during the upcoming Olympics in Paris, France in 2024. More than 12,000 participated in the majestic opening in Hangzhou. While there are predictably going to be 10,500 people in the opening of Paris Olympics 2024.

The fantastic number came from many regional sports and games in the Asian Games, which might not be available in the Olympics. For instance, cricket will be available in the 2028 Olympic in Los Angeles, US and the 2033 Olympic in Brisbane, Australia.

There are other regional sports, such as dragon boat, sepak takraw, wushu, martial arts from China, and kabaddi - a popular sport in India. There are also the non-olympic martial arts, such as jujitsu from Japan and kurash - a popular wrestling sport in Central Asia. The long list was added with what the organizer called "brain-racking sports" starting from bridge, chess, xiangqi (Chinese chess), and esports.

Most of the 481 events gave opportunity for small contingents to obtain medals. This is impossible in the Olympics. China's overall achievement was 300 medals in the previous Asian Games 2018 in Indonesia.

Indonesia's contingent has 576 people consisting of athletes, officials, and chef de mission (CdM) team to Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou. When releasing the Indonesia contingent on Tuesday (19/9), President Joko Widodo hopes that Indonesia can be in the top 10. During the Asian Games 2018 Jakarta-Palembang, Indonesia ranked 4th.

Besides competing for being the best, hopefully the Asian Games 2023 will be an event to tighten solidarity and keep peace in Asia, just like its slogan.