About 3,000 athletes are to converge on the Vietnamese resort town of Danang this weekend for the Asian Beach Games, vying for glory in events ranging from Indian contact sport kabaddi to wrestling and volleyball.
The biennial event will see 22 disciplines contested on a 7km stretch of sand at the tourist town in central Vietnam, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) said on Wednesday.
The Games, which run from tomorrow until Oct. 3, give prominence to athletes — and sports — from Asian nations who do not normally make the podium at the Olympics or World Championships.
Participating nations range from regional sporting heavyweight China to landlocked Afghanistan, who have won medals in beach wrestling in previous editions.
Beach soccer and Southeast Asian martial arts vovinam and pencak silat will also feature on the menu.
“The Asian Beach Games have become one of the most popular Asian multi-sport events on the calendar of the Olympic Movement for athletes, officials and spectators alike,” OCA president Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad Al Sabah said in a press release.
“The event has proved to be more successful than we could have dreamed of back in the early days,” he said of a competition that was launched in 2008 in Bali.
Organizers say the Games bring a tourist bonanza to host towns and cities.
However, Vietnamese state media reported local travel agents saying organizers had done too little to promote the Games, making it difficult to attract domestic and foreign tourists.
Thailand dominated the last edition held in 2014 on its home turf in Phuket.
In addition to Phuket and Bali, the Games have also been held in Muscat in Oman and Haiyang, China.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
RSS