Aichi-Nagoya (TIP): Organizers besides participants, conduct officials, spectators and media personnel associated with the day-to-day developments in the Aichi 2026 Asian Games, must have heaved a sigh of relief after Sun made its appearance after several days of wet and windy weather.
Continuous spell of inclement weather not only led to cancellation of several competitions but also curtailment and postponement of some of the competitions. The Indian cricket team which is here to defend its gold returned to the practice this afternoon before its semi final against Sri Lanka on Thursday afternoon. In the first semifinal, Pakistan is taking on Bangladesh in the morning.
According to weathermen, the next three days are expected to be bright and sunny.
Return of sunshine may also augur well for the organizers as the response to various competitions has mostly remained lukewarm. Of 2.5 million tickets, they put on sale, less than 50 percent have been sold till now.
Contrary to expectations, the India-Pakistan semi final on Thursday has evoked only a limited response as tickets for this game are still available. Many members of the South Asian Diaspora in Japan and nearby Asian countries were hoping for a bigger turnout. The inclement weather for the whole of last week has taken away some of the glamour of this game. Even the size of the Indian Diaspora in Japan is not even comparable to other Asian countries like Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore.
Escalation in airfares because of the ongoing conflicts in Europe and elsewhere, is another factor that restricted the number of sports enthusiasts expected for the Games.
Though there is no official comment or explanation, spreading of competitions to various cities and increasing the number of disciplines, including some new indigenous South and Southeast Asian sports have also been a contributing factor for the rapidly declining popularity of the games. Many people in various host cities were not even aware that the competitions of this elite Continental sports extravaganza were being held in their city.
When you move around in Nagoya, Gifu or other cities, what you miss is the excitement, fervour and celebrations associated with the conduct of the Games. Though most of the trains – metro and other local networks – carry banners and posters announcing the Games being held in their city, enthusiasm and gusto normally witnessed in host cities are missing here.
Not many political heads of various member nations of the Olympic Council of Asia have evinced any interest in the Games so far. The closing ceremony, however, is expected to be both exciting and captivating that would bring down the curtain on this event being organised by Japan for the third time.
(Prabhjot Singh is a Toronto-based senior journalist who writes on Sports, politics and community. He can be reached at prabhjot416@gmail.com)
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