September 18, 2007
Twenty20 Cricket Matches Included
in 2010 Asian Games
New Delhi
Its official. Twenty20 cricket will now be a part of the 2010 Asian
Games in Guangzhou, China, and the host nation is gearing up to give
some tough competition to the more established countries in the
game.
"Cricket is slowly catching up in China. The game is played in a few
pockets and I think the Twenty20 format will be ideal to popularise
the game in the country," Fang Daer, marketing director of the
Guangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee (GAGOC), said here at a
press conference Tuesday.
The proposal to include cricket in the Asian Games was approved by
the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) at its general assembly in Kuwait
earlier this year.
Besides cricket, dance sport, dragon boat race, roller-skating and
weiqi (a traditional Chinese game) have been included in the 2010
Asian Games, in which 45 countries are expected to take part.
The increasing number of sports events in the Asian Games is cause
for concern to the OCA, who wants to restrict the number of games in
future.
"The OCA will address this issue in the general assembly and other
seminars and we will curtail the number of tournaments in the Asian
Games after the 2010 edition in Guangzhou. It is a serious issue and
we have to handle it properly," said Randhir Singh, OCA secretary
general.
On the inclusion of cricket, Singh said: "China, although not a
cricketing country, was keen to host cricket in Guangzhou and this
will be a wonderful way of continuing to promote the game in China
and right across Asia."
Two venues are being renovated and one is under construction in
Guangzhou, capital of the southern Guangdong province bordering Hong
Kong.
"We have a venue in the Guangzhou University and it is being
renovated for cricket. We are also renovating another venue in the
city for the sport. Besides these, we are constructing a new cricket
stadium," said Fang.
He added that India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and hosts China
are sure to take part in the Twenty20 competition and hoped that the
number of participating countries will go up in the coming days.
"The tournament will be tough as the teams from the sub-continent,
which would form the core of the tournament, are extremely
competitive," said Fang.
The marketing director felt that the introduction of cricket in the
Asian Games wouldn't hamper the popularity of the other Olympic
sports.
"Cricket is not popular among other countries in Asia. Only some
countries of South Asia play the game. The introduction of cricket
in the Asian Games programme will obviously boost the sport's
popularity in the continent," said Fang.
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