Which date about will be Asian Games postponed

For some Indian athletes, the postponement could be a blessing in disguise, as it gives them room to rest in a busy year. It will as scheduled, China will host 23 nations for the Asian Cup, the continent’s showpiece football championship, in June and July next year.

For some Indian athletes, the postponement could be a blessing in disguise, as it gives them room to rest in a busy year.

Assuming it’ll go ahead as scheduled, China will host 23 nations for the Asian Cup, the continent’s showpiece football championship, in June and July next year.

Then, in the following month, a series of major international events will get underway, kick-starting the countdown to the Paris Olympics. In August, athletics, swimming, sailing, archery and badminton, most likely, will have their world championships. That’ll be followed by an equally packed September, when the world championships for basketball, canoeing, gymnastics, boxing and wrestling (for whom, the worlds will double up as the Olympic qualifiers) will take place.

As it tries to find a slot for the postponed Hangzhou Asian Games, which were scheduled to be held from September 10 to 25, the Olympic Council of Asia is staring at a narrow window where no major championships are already scheduled to conduct its flagship event.

‘Surprised’

Although it was being speculated for a while, the decision took many by I am not happy with is especially since the fresh dates or at least tentative month have not been declared. The lack of clarity affects the planning and preparation of the athletes.

But in the backdrop of rising Covid-19 cases in China, a delay seemed inevitable. China, where the virus emerged in late 2019, is experiencing its biggest Covid-19 outbreak. The Games’ host city began mass testing its 10 million residents last week to keep omicron cases in check. A short train ride away from Hangzhou, Shanghai has been under a strict lockdown for more than a month and China’s capital Beijing, too, has begun tightening its Covid curbs.

Logistical nightmare

With China yet to open its borders for international visitors, in its dogged pursuit of a zero-Covid policy, the country has been forced to cancel or postpone several sporting events. Moments after the Asian Games were postponed, the World University Games, which were to be held in Chengdu, too were pushed back to 2023 while the all Youth Asian Games were cancelled altogether. And although they are still a year away, China’s strict border control and zero-Covid policy have cast a shadow on the Asian Cup.

Despite these setbacks, officials have suggested that the Asian Games preparing are considering the option of staging the games during the same window next year. However, slotting the mega event.

When the Tokyo Olympics were pushed back by a year, from July-August 2020 to July-August 2021, several sports, including badminton and swimming, were forced to reschedule their world championships. Whether the Asian Games preparing can convince the international federations to do the same once again remains a given that it can have a domino effect on the Olympic qualification system.