2018 Asian Games Recap, Terima Kasih!

Courtesy:  India Today

After 16 days of inspiring fans all across the globe, the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta/Palembang, Indonesia have officially drawn to a close.  Before the start of the Asiad, I learned that this event is larger than the Summer Olympics–  in terms of sports,  and the athletes participating.  Therefore, I committed to covering these Games wall-to-wall.  In the process, I learned a great deal about Indonesia‘s culture, as well as the other nations in attendance.

Below are my ten favorite stories from Jakarta/Palembang 2018:

• 10.  Gold Medals Earned By Olympians Sun Yang & Joseph Schooling

We didn’t really get a good look at China’s swimmers during the 2018 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships back in August.  The country was saving it’s best swimmers for Jakarta.  Sun Yang (who is one of the most-followed athletes on Twitter) swept the freestyle distance events with golds in the 200m , 400m, 800m and 1500m.  He also earned two silvers being a part of China’s relay teams (4x100m free, 4x200m free).

Joseph Schooling of Singapore is best-known as “The Kid Who Upset Michael Phelps (in his final individual race)”.  With that win in Rio, he immediately became one of the biggest drawing names in the pool.  Over in Indonesia, the Texas Longhorn dominated the butterfly sprinting events with golds in the 50m and 100m– thus rejuvenating his interest for Tokyo 2020.  He also played helped his Singapore teammates earn bronze, twice in the team relays (4x100m free, 4x200m free).

• 9.  Bridge Bronze for the Billionaire

No, his event did not require the most athleticism.  However, it did need considerable amounts of layered-thinking.  As bizarre as it may sound, 78-year-old cigarette tycoon Michael Bambang Hartono, who also has 11.5 billion USD and is the richest man in Indonesia, helped his team to a bronze medal in contract bridge– team supermixed.

It seems like he wasn’t just there for the ride, and he played an integral role with Indonesia‘s respectable placing.

• 8.  Much Racket at the Sports Palace

I have to put Indonesia‘s badminton play on this list, mainly because it drew sellout crowds and had the greatest atmosphere.  While China earned the most golds (3), Indonesia had the most-medals overall (8).  Among the most memorable moments was Jonaton Christie‘s 2-1 win over Chou Tien-chen of Chinese Taipei.

In men’s doubles, there’s also the Indonesian team of Marcus Fernaldi Gideon & Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo, who needed extra time to beat their compatriots Fajar Alfian & Muhammad Rian Ardianto (13-21, 21-18, 24-22).

Overall, it was a huge boost for the Emerald of the Equator, considering its disappointing play at this year’s Thomas & Uber Cup in Thailand, as well as the world championships in China.

• 7.  Bing’s Bling
  

Maybe, I’m biased because I’ve followed him this summer on the Diamond League circuit.  After several close losses in 2018, Su Bingtian of China cemented his status as “The Fastest Man in Asia”.  Su ran away with gold as his 9.92 helped him set an Asian Games record as well.  If he had had theoretically registered that same time at this week’s Diamond League final in Brussels, Belgium, he would’ve finished second only to American Christian Coleman who seems to currently be racing on a different level.

• 6.  A Bronze Medal and a Wedding Ring

Of course, there can’t be a major international sporting event without the obligatory marriage proposal.  I’m sure twenty years ago, the world was stunned once they were rarely seen on television.  Fast-forward to 2018, and now you can’t have a major event without one.

That said, Hong Kong fencer Lam Hin Chung, who represented his country in London 2012, where he was eliminated in the first round, helped the Pearl of the Orient to a bronze in team sabre, but that’s not why this story is so high on the list.  Following the medal presentation, he proposed to his long-time girlfriend Nicole, who graciously accepted his proposal.  Sun Yang of China may have left Jakarta with four golds in the pool, Chung gets to leave with a bronze medal and a fiancee.

• 5.  Unified Korea Wins Gold

Not only was Unified Korea‘s gold medal in the 12-person dragon boat a historic moment for the two adjoined nations, it seemed to be a genuine moment of 12 ladies putting their national differences aside help each other win.

Back in the PyeongChang Olympics last February, North Koreans were added to South Korea‘s roster on short-notice (on the world’s biggest stage, nonetheless).  Needless to say, the team was also winless, and none of their games were really that close.  The other Unified Korean team, women’s basketball was a different story.  The team was powerful enough to earn a silver in Jakarta.  However, the team’s roster is largely South Korean, and the ladies already knew they were among the best in the world.

This dragon boat win seemed to be the most innocent and genuine.  At some point, the Olympic Channel needs to do a documentary on this remarkable feat.

• 4.  Oksana Chusovitina-  The Ageless Wonder

Even though cigarette billionaire Hartono already took her place as the oldest competitor on this top ten list, 43-year-old gymnast Oksana Chusovitina of Uzbekistan continues to thrive- doing so against other girls half her age.

What makes her silver in women’s vault so astonishing is not only her age, but the fact she was .11 away from besting Yeo Seo-jeong of South Korea for the gold.

One of the first Summer Olympics I ever watched was the 1992 Games in Barcelona, Spain.  That year, Oksana helped the Unified Team (former USSR) to gold in the team all-around.

• 3.  Tejinder’s Heavy Heart

While many of his competitors and countrymen were preparing for Jakarta, Indian shot-put phenom Tejinder Pal Singh Toor was balancing his time training, and tending to his father who is fighting cancer at a Punjab hospital.

While his second-to-last throw was a quarter-inch away from his goal of 21 meters, he still set an Asian Games record with a 20.75m throw, which was also good-enough for the gold.  I’ve really been tempted to place this story at No. 1 on the list.

• 2.  Son Rising in Tottenham

This story actually circulates as far back as the FIFA World Cup held in Russia this summer.  While all males in South Korea are required to report for military duty, few exemptions are ever granted.  While Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-min wasn’t able to help the Taeguk Warriors win a World Cup, he did help his team knock out the defending champions from Germany.

For him to receive an exemption, Asiad gold was a requirement.  Plain and simple.

I’m sure there was high blood pressure surrounding the gold medal final in Cibinong as Korea‘s contest with Japan remained 0-0 after 90 minutes of play.  Lee Seung-woo became a national hero at 93′ as he headed in a corner kick thus breaking the scoreless tie.  Eight minutes later, Hwang Hee-chan landed the second goal, which was all South Korea needed for the title.

With that victory, Son can tend to his on-field responsibilities at Tottenham, where he can help 2018 Golden Boot winner Harry Kane lead to Spurs to prominence in the Premier League.

• 1.  Lindswell Kwok says Goodbye!

This moment may not be at the top of many other countdown lists.  However, I was just so taken aback with the story, I really didn’t want to put anything else ahead of it.

Wushu is not-yet contested on the world’s biggest stage.  For many of those competing in Jakarta, especially in other martial arts- kurash, sambo, pencak silat, this is their Olympic Games.  With five world championships on her resume, Lindswell Kwok of Indonesia entered the Asian Games, already as a fan-favorite.  While competing in the Taijijian (basically, rhythmic gymnastics with a sword), the Binjai-native was the only one to score as high as 9.75.   Lindwell landed the same score during her second go-around, which was all she needed for her only Asiad gold of her career.

After her performance, she hugged Indonesian president Joko Widodo, exchanged thumbs up, and called it a career.

No, I haven’t forgotten about the remarkable feats of Japanese swimmer Rikako Ikee.  Her eight medals, which include six golds have been unprecedented, and she the first woman to receive the Asian Games MVP award for a reason.  Those ten moments listed above are just remarkable stories, which touched me on a personal level!

Sunday in Palembang

• Japanese Sweep

Fifteen hours away in Palembang, the Asian Games closed with the inaugural team mixed triathlon relay.  As Yuichi Hosoda crossed the finish line draped in the Japanese flag, Nippon earned it’s third gold racing with the water, bikes and sneakers.

It came as no surprise since Japan‘s gold medal triathlon relay team included Jumpei Furuya and Yuko Takahashi, who both raced for gold this weekend.  The Land of the Rising Sun clocked in a cumulative time of 1:30.30, which was more than two minutes ahead of South Korea.  Hong Kong took bronze, finishing 13 second behind Korea.

On to Hangzhou!

The 2018 Asian Games officially closed Sunday, as the cauldron was extinguished and the duty has been handed off to to the good people of Hangzhou, China.

Even though Sunday’s ceremony didn’t have the same energy or vibrancy as the opener (most Olympic Games don’t for that matter), fans had plenty of reason to be satisfied.  It seemed as if the rain may have dampened a few of the festivities and some online fans were beset by the long speeches.  However, there were enough talented musicians to  entertain the fans at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, and it’s probably safe to say the fans in attendance got their money’s worth.  Now, the Indonesian fans have to look forward to next month’s Asian Para Games, hopefully followed by a pursuit of the 2032 Summer Olympics.

As I hinted in Saturday’s blog, I believe Indonesia is more than capable of holding a successful Olympics.  The venues in Jakarata and Palembang are already in place, and will probably need some touch-ups within the next 14 years.  Jakarta will also need to improve its traffic and air quality to even be taken serious by the IOC.

Overall, blogging about the 2018 Asian Games has been a great adventure.  There were a few obstacles, given that I had to catch everything on social media (h/t Facebook and Instagram).  I also had to balance my Asian Games coverage with my full-time job here in the United States.  I’ll say this was also a busy week, considering that I work in the local news industry, and this previous weekend was the beginning of football season.

That said, if Indonesia didn’t host such an energetic and successful Games, than learning about the great stories of the last two weeks would not have given me such a great experience!