By IANS
Macau : Pankaj Advani, India’s star cueist, was one of the five athletes chosen to pass on the sacred flame before the official start of the second Asian Indoor Games here.
Soon after the flame was lit Friday evening, Edmund Ho Har Wah, chief executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region of China, declared the games open.
The opening ceremony carried a theme of Harmonious Host City – what Macau calls itself. It had performances divided into sections called “Glittering Asia”, “Monkey King’s Journey”, “Bowling Symphony”, “Extreme Passion”, “The Asian Beats”, “Rook vs Rook”, “Golden Lotus in Blossom”, “Shall We Dance”, “Auspicious Leaps and Bounds” and the last scene was “Winner”.
The show was an attempt to present the features of the host city and the essence of the Asian Indoor Games.
The flame was passed on to athletes representing five different regions in Asia. While India’s Advani represented South Asia, Iran’s Sajjad Moradi represented West Asia, Uzbek Shavkatbek Muhitdinov came from Central Asia, Thai Jeerasak Tassorn from Southeast Asia and China’s Ni Zhenhua was representative of East Asia.
The torch was passed on to Sou Sok Leng of Macau, who passed it to another Macau athlete Chu Chin Tou to light the cauldron.
As many as 45 Asian countries have sent over 3,000 athletes to compete in 17 sports disciplines and three demonstration sports.
The evening was highlighted by a total of 5,000 performers from more than 10 local associations. They included the “Song of Lotus” by mainland singer Tang Can, a performance by popular singer from Hong Kong Joey Yung and hot band from Taiwan Fahrenheit.
OCA Vice-President Timothy Fok, who stood in for OCA President Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah at the opening ceremony, extended his welcome to all participants to Macau.
“Our Asia is a diverse continent where the sun never sets,” Manuel Silverio, chairman of the 2007 Macao Asian Indoor Games Organising Committee (MAIGOC), said at the ceremony.
“But for all the great distances and differences between us, Asia finds a common language, and that language is sports.”
The second Asian Games feature most of the non-Olympic sports including five-man soccer, e-sports, kabaddi and bowling.
International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge and Director of the General Administration of Sport of China Liu Peng also attended the opening ceremony.