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Josh Ball

Mike Chan

The Asian Games open in Japan on Saturday, against a backdrop of complaints over athlete accommodation, venues that have leaked under record rainfall, and a host city still at odds with the Olympic Council of Asia over the ballooning number of those taking part.
Chaos has been the theme in the week before the opening ceremony, with transport data errors at Nagoya airport leaving teams stranded for hours without food, while basketball players who did manage to get to their rooms found themselves forced to bed down in converted containers that barely held their two-metre (seven-feet) frames.
Hong Kong’s delegation has not been spared either, with the table tennis teams sent to different accommodation when they arrived on Thursday.
The players and coach Liu Guodong of the men’s team were sent to the newly arrived Costa Serena cruise ship, which will house some 4,000 competitors over the next two weeks, as was women’s coach Zhang Rui.
The rest of the players and coaching staff, plus a host of support staff, were sent to locations across Nagoya.

“It’s quite difficult for us, to be honest, all the staff in one place while the athletes are in another place – it’s complete separation,” Liu said. “Our players can only receive massages at the arena for now, or we have to try getting day passes for our medical staff; we’ll figure it out.
“We are not going to complain too much. It’s important to keep a positive state of mind because these situations cannot affect our players.”
Three years after China built a small city to house athletes, officials and media at the Hangzhou Games, the less impressive Japanese version has caused angst for a variety of reasons.
Three of the four players representing Hong Kong in men’s 3x3 basketball have complained of seasickness associated with the rolling of the cruise ship.
“We were all very hungry after finally getting out of the airport following lots of procedures,” Ivan Yang Bo-wen said.
“There were a lot of people waiting in the lobby when we arrived at the cruise ship, and everyone was facing the same problem; I was expecting better arrangements.”
Multi-sport events such as these, however, have a habit of coming good when it counts, and five years after Covid deprived the nation’s capital of the Olympic party it had hoped for, Japan will stage its third regional Games, although not with the enthusiasm it might have hoped for from its residents.
Public interest has been low, with officials struggling to sell tickets and Nagoya’s desire for a “simple, streamlined and functional event” slamming headfirst into the OCA’s far grander vision.

An initial local budget that banked on around 15,000 athletes, coaches, medical staff and the usual assorted hangers-on has risen to some 17,000, partly because of the addition of new sports such as padel and mixed martial arts (MMA).
While the Paris Olympics had 329 medal events in 32 sports, Nagoya will feature 469 medal events in 43 sports, up from 40 sports in 2023.
While cramming in more, the hosts have also dropped a number of non-traditional competitions that were held in Hangzhou. Chess, Go, xiangqi and bridge have all been ditched, as have dragon boat racing, roller skating and open water swimming.
Instead, spectators will get MMA, ⁠padel and surfing, as well as virtual taekwondo and teqball, a ball sport that combines elements of table tennis and football.
Esports will again be a medal event, while ‌breaking has been retained, despite its less than impressive display in France in 2024.
Competition will be fierce in Asia’s traditional strengths of table tennis, badminton and weightlifting, while athletes will be competing for ⁠Olympic quota spots for the 2028 Los Angeles Games in archery, hockey, sailing, squash, surfing, tennis and triathlon.
The Tokyo Aquatics Centre will be laden with global quality ⁠when the swimming launches on Sunday, when Siobhan Haughey could yet compete in the women’s 50m breaststroke, as she looks to defend the two gold medals she won three years ago.
The Olympic men’s 100m freestyle champion and world record holder Pan Zhanle leads a strong Chinese squad, though it might be his 13-year-old teammate Yu Zidi who steals the show.

Filipino tennis player Alex Eala, whose every move on the WTA Tour has drawn ‌excited crowds of compatriots, will bid for ‌gold three years after claiming bronze in the singles and mixed-doubles events at Hangzhou.
Enthusiasm levels for the Games are likely to improve among home fans with a few gold medals. Japan finished third with 20 golds at the Paris Olympics, upstaging Great Britain, Australia and hosts France.
Javelin thrower Haruka Kitaguchi, the first Japanese woman to win Olympic gold in a field event, will lead the hosts’ athletics hopes, while triple Olympic gymnastics champion Shinnosuke Oka will also be bidding for gold.


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Chaos, tepid public interest at Asian Games so far, but things will heat up when it counts

China table tennis stars describe Asian Games cruise ship living as a ‘unique’ experience

Asian Games 2026

A general view of the main stadium, venue for the opening and closing ceremonies and the athletics programme for the Asian Games in Nagoya starting offocially on Saturday. Photo: AP

The Costa Serena cruise ship will house up to 5,000 officials and athletes during the Asian Games. Photo: AP

Iraq taking on Laos in a mixed doubles teqball match on Friday. Photo: AP

China’s 13-year-old swimmer Yu Zidi will be one of the biggest names in Nagoya. Photo: AFP

Hong Kong give Yang, Sham honour of carrying city’s flag at Asian Games opening ceremony

Hong Kong athletes and officials attended a welcome ceremony at Nagoya Port Garden Pier, alongside friends and rivals from the China and Macau teams. Photo: Sam Tsang

The Hong Kong flag was raised in Nagoya on Thursday. Photo: Sam Tsang

Hong Kong’s Cheung Ka-long ready to rise to challenge overcome by Djokovic, Guardiola

Double Olympic champion Cheung Ka-long will be competing in his fourth Asian Games. Photo: Elson Li

Greg Koenig (right) is seeking ways to motivate Cheung Ka-long for the forthcoming Asian Games. Photo: Handout

Enzo Lefort, partied for eight days after claiming team foil silver at the 2016 Olympics. Photo: Edmond So

Sport

Other Sport

Hong Kong team among those hit by issues such as housing, but the enlarged multi-sport event will see its share of world-class competition


Hong Kong team among those hit by issues such as housing, but the enlarged multi-sport event will see its share of world-class competition.


Siobhan Haughey

Yu Zidi

Pan Zhanle

Chaos, tepid public interest at Asian Games so far, but things will heat up when it counts

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Hong Kong team among those hit by issues such as housing, but the enlarged multi-sport event will see its share of world-class competition

Hong Kong team among those hit by issues such as housing, but the enlarged multi-sport event will see its share of world-class competition