Hangzhou, China, September 11, 2019: The Olympic Council of Asia wrapped up a two-day visit to Hangzhou, China - host city of the next Asian Games in 2022 – on Wednesday afternoon.
Following a venue tour and three-year countdown ceremony on Tuesday, the second OCA Coordination Committee meeting took place at the Hangzhou Marriott Hotel Qianjiang and featured 10 reports from various departments of organising committee HAGOC.
The Chairman of the OCA Coordination Committee, Raja Randhir Singh, said the two days of activities and presentations demonstrated that Asia was ahead of the rest of the world in terms of organising major sports events.
“We have had a very fruitful two days’ visit,” he said. “The presentations were totally thorough right down to the detail.
“We have three years to go and we feel that Asia as a continent is the leader in organising sports worldwide. There is no doubt that the world is looking at Asia.
“We are all looking forward to the next Asian Games being an excellent and a great Asian Games. Every time in Asia we raise the bar and I think we will reach another level in 2022.”
Earlier in the meeting, the OCA Director General, Husain Al Musallam, pointed out that Asia was the first continent to host an international multi-sport games, with the foundations of the modern Asian Games laid in 1913 with the first Far Eastern Championship Games in Manila, Philippines.
“We have no doubt that the Hangzhou Asian Games will be the best ever Asian Games,” he said. “We have no doubt that we will deliver a high standard of Games and a high level of preparation.
“A lot of sports started in Asia and went to the Olympic Games, such as table tennis and judo. We are proud of what we are doing and proud of our achievements.”
Regarding the sports programme for Hangzhou 2022, three sports – karate, sport climbing and baseball/softball – were added to the list of 37 already approved.
A total of 51 venues in nine clusters will host the sports, while the athletes will be accommodated in the main Asian Games Village as well as four satellite villages.
Although the number of disciplines and events within the sports has still to be determined, the 40 sports approved are:
Aquatics (open water swimming, water polo, artistic swimming, diving and swimming)
Archery
Athletics
Badminton
Basketball
Boxing
Canoeing (dragon boat, canoe slalom, canoe sprint)
Cycling (BMX, mountain bike, road, track)
Equestrian
Fencing
Football
Golf
Gymnastics (trampoline, rhythmic gymnastics, artistic gymnastics)
Handball
Hockey
Judo
Modern Pentathlon
Rowing
Rugby Sevens
Sailing
Shooting
Table Tennis
Taekwondo
Tennis
Triathlon
Weightlifting
Wrestling
Volleyball
Roller Sports (roller skating, skateboarding)
Board Games (Chinese chess, go, chess)
Cricket
Jujitsu
Kurash
Sepaktakraw
Wushu
Squash
Kabaddi
Baseball/Softball
Karate
Sport Climbing
The 19th Asian Games will take place from September 10-25, 2022 with the participation of athletes from Oceania for the first time.
The next OCA Coordination Committee meeting for Hangzhou 2022 is scheduled for March 2020.