ASIAD 19 officially opened

The opening ceremony of the 19th Asian Games (ASIAD 19) took place on the evening of September 23.

21:05: The opening ceremony of the 19th ASIAD ended with a fireworks display using LED lights.

21:00: The 19th ASIAD torch has been lit.

The torchbearer was Olympic gold medalist swimmer Wang Shun.

20:55: The torch relay ceremony begins. Chinese athletes are carrying the torch to the torch stand.

The 19th ASIAD torch is lit. Photo: Linh Hoang — The torch was officially lit. Photo: Linh Hoang

20:43: The sports of ASIAD 19 are introduced using light technology, followed by the appearance of the mascots of the games.

20:30: The program continues with an elaborate art performance, combined with beautiful lighting technology.

Art performances introduce Chinese history, culture and people through the centuries to international friends.

20:25: Host country athletes take oath at ASIAD 19.

20:23: The organizing committee holds the flag raising ceremony.

20:18: Chinese President Xi Jinping declared the 19th ASIAD open.

20:05: Representative of the National Olympic Committee of China, Head of the Organizing Committee of ASIAD 19, Olympic Council of Asia spoke at the opening ceremony.

19:59: The Chinese sports delegation parades last. At the 19th ASIAD, the host country participated with 887 athletes, the second largest number in the Games (after Thailand with 934 athletes).

19:57: The Vietnamese sports delegation marched in 43rd place. The flag bearers were athletes Nguyen Huy Hoang and Nguyen Thi Huong. At the 19th ASIAD, the Vietnamese sports delegation had 337 athletes competing in 31 sports (202 events).

Vietnam Sports Delegation. Photo: Duc Thien

19:35: Sports delegations parade on the road created by light technology. The names of the delegations are also written on the large LED screen in front of the stands.

19:12: Sports delegations of countries participating in ASIAD 19 begin to parade on stage.

19:00: The opening ceremony of ASIAD 19 begins.

The program opened with special performances, staged grandly and colorfully.

ASIAD opening ceremony stage. Photo: Cut from clip

The opening ceremony of the 19th ASIAD took place at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium (China) with a capacity of up to 100,000 seats.

The theme of the 19th ASIAD opening ceremony is "Towards Asia" with the aim of conveying the cultural colors of the 45 countries and territories participating in this year's congress.

Art performances at the opening ceremony. Photo: Duc Thien

The entire opening ceremony lasted about 2 hours, including welcoming ceremonies, parades of sports delegations, opening speeches and lighting of the congress torch.

Host China will introduce the unique cultural features of the country in general and Hangzhou - the city where sports (except women's football) take place in particular to friends in the continent.

The highlight of the event was a high-class artistic performance that delighted the audience, similar to the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Scene of the final rehearsal of the ASIAD opening ceremony on September 18. Photo: news.cgtn

In addition, fans will witness millions of virtual sparks lighting up the sky. Each spark represents an online torchbearer. Eventually, these sparks will merge into a human figure walking down the stage to light the 19th Asian Games flame with a real-life torchbearer.

Previously, the 19th Asian Games organizing committee announced that this year's opening ceremony would not feature fireworks as is traditional. Director Sha Xiaolan said that the organizing committee wanted to spread the message of environmental protection and reduce carbon emissions as much as possible. Instead, the audience would be treated to a fireworks display using LED lights.

The ASIAD opening ceremony will feature many famous Asian artists such as Jannine Weigel (Thailand), Hiroaki Kato (Japan) and Talia Lahoud (Lebanon).

The official song of the 19th ASIAD is "The love we share". The mascots of the games are the three robots Chenchen, Congcong, and Lianlian, which will appear in the ceremony.

Mascot of the 19th Asian Games. Photo: News.cn

The Vietnamese sports delegation attending the opening ceremony includes the head of the delegation, deputy head of the delegation, officials, doctors, coaches, and athletes from the shooting, swimming, rowing, boxing, chess, fencing, esports, judo, tennis, and gymnastics teams.

The flag bearers for the Vietnamese Sports Delegation were athletes Nguyen Huy Hoang (swimming) and Nguyen Thi Huong (shooting).

The Vietnamese sports delegation attending the 19th ASIAD has 504 members, including 337 athletes, competing in 31 sports with 202 events. The target of Vietnamese sports is to win from 2 to 5 gold medals at this congress.

Laodong.vn