2006 Asian Games
2006 Asian Games Slogan: "The Games of Your Life"
Nations participating	45
Athletes participating	10500+ (estimated)
Events	39 sports
Opening ceremony	December 1, 2006 (Details)
Closing ceremony	December 15, 2006 (Details)
Officially opened by	Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani
Athlete's Oath	Mubarak Eid Bilal
Judge's Oath	Abd Allah Al-Bulooshi
Torch Lighter	Shiekh Mohammed Bin Hamad Al-Thani
Stadium	Khalifa International Stadium

The 15th Asian Games, officially known as the XV Asiad, is Asia's Olympic-style sporting event that was held in Doha, Qatar from December 1 to December 15, 2006. Doha was the first city in its region and only the second in West Asia after Tehran in 1974 to host the games. There were 46 disciplines from 39 events scheduled to be contested.

Medal count

2006 Asian Games medal count
Rank	Country				Total
1	China	165	88	63	316
2	Korea	58	53	82	193
3	Japan	50	71	77	198
4	Kazakhstan	23	20	42	85
5	Thailand	13	15	26	54
6	Iran	11	15	22	48
7	Uzbekistan	11	14	15	40
8	India	10	17	26	53
9	Qatar (host)	9	12	11	32
10	Chinese Taipei	9	10	27	46
11	Malaysia	8	17	17	42
12	Singapore	8	7	12	27
13	Saudi Arabia	8	0	6	14
14	Bahrain	7	10	4	21
15	Hong Kong, China	6	12	10	28
16	DPR Korea	6	9	16	31
17	Kuwait	6	5	2	13
18	Philippines	4	6	9	19
19	Vietnam	3	13	7	23
20	United Arab Emirates	3	4	3	10
21	Mongolia	2	5	8	15
22	Indonesia	2	3	15	20
23	Syria	2	1	3	6
24	Tajikistan	2	0	2	4
25	Jordan	1	3	4	8
26	Lebanon	1	0	2	3
27	Myanmar	0	4	7	11
28	Kyrgyzstan	0	2	6	8
29	Iraq	0	2	1	3
30	Macau, China	0	1	6	7
31	Pakistan	0	1	3	4
32	Sri Lanka	0	1	2	3
=33	Turkmenistan	0	1	0	1
=33	Laos	0	1	0	1
35	Nepal	0	0	3	3
=36	Afghanistan	0	0	1	1
=36	Bangladesh	0	0	1	1
=36	Yemen	0	0	1	1 !colspan=2|Total||428||423||542||1393

The color in the number indicate the medal added or stripped by one due to the failure of gender test.

Bidding process

On November 12, 2000, the voting took place in Busan, South Korea, which was the venue for the 2002 Asian Games. The voting involved the 41 members of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and consisted of three rounds, each round eliminating one of the bidding cities.^[1][2] After the first round, New Delhi of India was eliminated with only 2 votes. The second round of voting, with three remaining candidates, gave the following result.^[3]

2006 Asian Games bidding results
City	NOC	Round 1	Round 2
Doha	Qatar	20	22
Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	13	13
Hong Kong	Hong Kong, China	6	6
New Delhi	India	2	−

Under the regulations of the OCA, a candidate which gains half of the available votes will automatically be selected as the host, and the remaining rounds of voting will be cancelled. When Doha gained 22 out of 41 votes this meant they were selected to host the 2006 Asian Games. Most of Qatar's votes came from the unanimous support from West Asian countries.^[4]

After the major upset, Malaysia and Hong Kong, China expressed their disappointment. Malaysia said that the selection of Doha was ridiculous and that the selection of Doha was influenced by Qatar's economic wealth.^[3][5]

Torch relay

The torch relay has been integral to the Asian Games since 1958. The plans for the Doha 2006 torch relay were revealed by the Doha Asian Games Organising Committee (DAGOC) on January 20, 2006.^[6]

The relay itself started on October 8, 2006 with a brief ceremony at the Doha Golf Club named "Flame of Hospitality".^[7] With the involvement of over 3000 people, the torch is crossing 8 former Asian Games host countries and 4 Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member States.^[7] The first pit stop was in New Delhi, India on October 11, 2006. In total the relay passed over 13 countries and 23 cities all over Asia.^[8][9] The relay, which has a distance of 50,000 kilometres in 55 days is the longest relay in the history of the Asian Games.^[7]

Below is a list of places visited by the torch:^[7]

1. India – New Delhi
2. Korea – Busan
3. Philippines – Manila
4. Japan – Hiroshima
5. China – Beijing, Guangzhou
6. * Macau, China
7. * Hong Kong, China
8. Indonesia – Jakarta
9. Thailand – Bangkok
10. Iran – Mashad, Esfahan, Tehran
11. Oman – Salalah, Muscat, Sohar
12. United Arab Emirates – Hatta, Sharjah, Dubai, Abu Dhabi
13. Kuwait – Kuwait City
14. Bahrain – Manama

The torch travelled back to Doha, Qatar, held by Sheikh Joan Bin Hamad AL-Thani, and the journey around the city itself started on November 25, 2006 and lasted until the opening ceremony of the Games.

Mascot

The Doha Asian Games Organising Committee chose "Orry", a Qatari Oryx, as the official mascot of the 15th Asian Games Doha 2006. The Oryx had once become extinct in the wild, but thanks to preservation and conservation groups it has recently been reintroduced. The choice of Orry also sends a message of peace, commitment and fun at the Games.^[10]

Opening ceremony

Main article: 2006 Asian Games Opening Ceremony

The Opening Ceremony of the Games was described by the media to be one of the most technologically spectacular multi-sports event ceremony.^[11] Also described as the best opening Ceremony of any multi-sport event. It was viewed by 50,000 spectators in the Khalifa International Stadium, and famous guests like the IOC's Jacques Rogge, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and Syrian President Bashar Assad.^[12] This opening ceremony was directed by David Atkins, who conducted the Sydney 2000 opener.^[13]

The ceremony started with the welcome of Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani with the OCA chairman Sheikh Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and his wife. After that, a 10 second countdown began to signal the starting of the opening ceremony. The message "Peace Be Upon You" from a group of 2,300 young people with the Islamic greeting written in Arabic "Assalamualaikum" (السلام عليكم) after the countdown. A group of children, led by Nasser Khaled Al Kubaisi, then sang Qatar's national anthem and raised the national flag. The ceremony announcers were Trish Bertram and Hussam Akawi.

The first part of the show, called "The Journey Begins", tells about a young man called the "Seeker" leaving his family, and Nura, his love, and beginning his discovery of Asia, guided only by the stars and his astrolabe. After encountering a fierce storm at sea, he was rescued by a giant falcon, landing him on safe ground where he continued his path to discovering the colourful history and cultures of Asia. The Angkor Wat, the Taj Mahal, the Temple of Heaven and Borobudur were among the important landmarks he passed. The Seeker was also treated to a multicultural presentation that displayed the cultures of different Asian regions, as well as the old empires that once ruled over most of Asia. Nura, on the other hand, descended into the stadium with a very large piece of cloth (traditional black cloth locally called Abayah عبايه) trailing her, covering the entire eastern stands, and sang in Arabic, "Atone, Atone Oh Sea!" as she despairs, waiting for the arrival of her love. With his Asian brothers helping him in his way back to his homeland, the Seeker safely made it back to Nura, and invited all of Asia to celebrate their wedding.

The latter part of the cultural programme focused on the Seeker showing his son the Arab/Islamic worlds contributions to modern science in the past, the present and the future. Sixty-four horsemen also entered the stadium in the segment 'Tribute to the Desert Horseman.'

Delegates from the 45 countries and regions of Asia entered the stadium after the cultural section of the programme. This was the third major sports event since the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics that North Korea and South Korea jointly entered the stadium under one flag. Performances from Hong Kong's Jacky Cheung, who sang "Together Now", as well as India's Bollywood star Sunidhi Chauhan who sang "Reach Out" were a tribute to the athletes. Lebanon's Magida El Roumi and Spanish tenor José Carreras performed "Light The Way".

The most dramatic moment was when Sheikh Mohammed Bin Hamad Al-Thani rode his horse up the stairs to the top of the stadium to light up the giant cauldron, designed by Michael Scott-Mitchell, which took the form of a giant rotating astrolabe. When the flame was successfully transferred electronically to the Aspire Tower just outside the stadium, fireworks went off, signalling the start of the 2006 Asian Games.

Closing ceremony

The closing ceremony featured the Arabic stories of a thousand years ago. It started with the same young boy as the "Seeker" in the opening ceremony. The boy was taken to the world of imagination after he picked up sand and let it slip from his fingers. He then flew to a magical place with a magic carpet, a device which is well-known in the fairy tales of Aladdin. As the stadium became dark, the boy was lowered down to turn a book's ornate pages, and the stories began.

The segment of "A Thousand and One Nights" featured stories like Haroun Al-Raschid and the Dervish, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Sinbad the Sailor and Aladdin and his Marvellous Lamp. There was a woman known as Scheherazade who flew across the stadium on a crescent moon. Later she carried the boy, and flew away from the stadium after the stories came to an end. The show also used an array of dancers, horses and special effects to portray the different stories. After that, the segment of "Land of the Oryx" was shown with the whirling of dance.

All 45 nations' athletes soon entered the stadium after the show's end. This time, however, they marched together to show the unity of the Asian Games family. Park Tae-Hwan was announced as the best athlete of the Games, having won seven medals, three of them being golds from the swimming competitions. The ceremony also included a minute of silence in homage to the South Korean equestrian rider Kim Hyung-chil, who died during the competition.

After that, the OCA President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah officially announced the Games closed and passed the OCA flag to the mayor of Guangzhou, Zhang Guangning, as the host of the next Asian Games in 2010.

A special 10 minutes in the final part of the closing ceremony showed a new China, known as "Oriental Charm", which featured the Chinese culture, (including opera, painting and wushu), the dynamic spirit and the Guangzhou background and expressed the hospitality of Chinese people to the world.^[14] The closing ceremony concluded with a song by Filipino Broadway star and Tony Awards Best Actress Lea Salonga, who performed "Triumph of the One", a tribute composed by Australian composer Kylie Burtland. Afterwards, the fireworks blazed around the stadium and brought the curtains down on the Games.

Criticism

Despite the spectacular opening ceremony, which received high praise, there was some criticism by some delegations and athletes. Heavy rain poured down just after the end of opening ceremony, and many believed that the organisers did not have plans to deal with it, creating a chaotic situation. Chef de Mission of the Philippines, Butch Ramirez, said that some of the members of the Philippine delegation, including athletes, were soaked in the rain because the organising officials did not allow them to re-enter the covered stadium for shelter; instead they had to stay in the heavy rain for more than 30 minutes. He goes on to say that the breakdown in transportation protocols due to the rain caused the athletes to rush to the nearest bus station, exposing them to rain. Ramirez said that he himself was a victim of pushing and shoving due to this chaos, and that because of it, he suffered from an asthma attack.^[15]

Malaysian athletes also expressed unhappiness. According to the athletes, the organising officials allowed only the Qatari team to exit the stadium and held back the other 44 nations inside. Also, the disarrangement of transportation queues meant that they had to wait in the wet and tiring conditions till 2 a.m., when they were finally sent to the Athletes' Village.^[16]

A Japanese journalist said while a few buses and bus stops were prepared around the stadium, the organisers also didn't install shelters to protect people waiting in these stations.^[17]

As of this writing, there has been some confusion concerning the many volunteers working the games; as in many not showing up to their assignments, too many showing up at events or locations where they are not needed, and some complaining that they were being made to do work other than what they previously agreed to do, as in female VIP hostesses being told to go pick up trash outside on the streets. Many volunteers have been complaining about the lack of transportation needed to take them to their locations, as most are guest workers and have no privately owned vehicles. They are authorised free use of taxis, but they are saying the taxis are not stopping for them, despite the fact that they have been given vouchers by organisers. After a volunteer briefing/Opening Ceremony rehearsal at Khalifa Stadium one night in mid-November, hundreds of volunteers were stranded as they were unable to find transportation back into the city, most having to walk back and not getting to their homes until late at night. Sources say there were only so many buses, which were quickly filled, and despite being told the buses would return, they didn't.

According to one IOC insider who arrived back at his hotel soaked, this incident could hurt the chances of Doha hosting the 2016 Summer Olympics, which they are likely to bid for. Indeed, transportation is one of the crucial factors involved in the decision process.^[18]

Sports

The sport events contested at the 2006 Asian Games are listed below. Officially there are 46 disciplines from 39 sports in contention. All events listed started after the opening ceremony except Badminton, Baseball, Basketball, Football (Soccer), Table tennis, and Volleyball, which had preliminaries before the opening ceremony.

Archery Athletics Badminton Baseball Basketball Bodybuilding Bowling Boxing Canoe-Kayak Chess Cue sports Cycling (track and road) Diving

Equestrian (including equestrian endurance) Fencing Football Golf Gymnastics (artistic, rhythmic, and trampoline) Handball Hockey Judo Kabaddi Karate Rowing Rugby Sailing

Sepaktakraw Shooting Softball Squash Swimming (including synchronised swimming) Table tennis Taekwondo Tennis (including soft tennis) Triathlon Volleyball (beach and indoor) Water polo Weightlifting Wrestling Wushu

Participating NOCs

Named and arranged after their IOC country codes, all 45 OCA members are participating in the Games. The number in parentheses indicates the number of participants that the NOC contributed.

Afghanistan (47) Bangladesh (74) Bhutan (21) Bahrain (228) Brunei (7) Cambodia (17) China (647) Hong Kong, China (282) Indonesia (140) India (387) Iran (250) Iraq (86) Jordan (98) Japan (631) Kazakhstan (338)

Kyrgyzstan (131) Korea (656) Saudi Arabia (155) Kuwait (238) Lao PDR (15) Lebanon (138) Macau, China (203) Malaysia (244) Maldives (55) Mongolia (175) Myanmar (40) Nepal (51) Oman (81) Pakistan (157) Philippines (233)

Palestine (72) DPR Korea (164) Qatar (359) Singapore (134) Sri Lanka (151) Syria (155) Thailand (378) Tajikistan (103) Turkmenistan (43) Timor-Leste (15) Chinese Taipei 1 (399) United Arab Emirates (131) Uzbekistan (243) Vietnam (247) Yemen (24)

Note 1: Chinese Taipei is the official IOC designation for the state officially referred to as the Republic of China, more commonly known as Taiwan. (See also political status of Taiwan for details.)

Venues

• Al-Arabi Sports Club – Fencing, football (soccer), rugby sevens. table tennis
• Al-Dana Club – Bodybuilding, chess, weightlifting
• Al-Gharrafa Sports Club – Football (soccer), handball
• Al-Khor Road Course – cycling
• Al-Rayyan Sports Club – Baseball, football (soccer), hockey, volleyball, softball
• Al-Sadd Sports Club – Cue sports, football (soccer), sepak takraw, water polo
• ASPIRE Academy for Sports Excellence – gymnastics, badminton, boxing, canoe, kayak, cycling, kabaddi, rhythmic gymnastics, trampoline, wrestling, wushu
• Basketball Indoor Hall – Basketball
• Corniche – Cycling, athletics, triathlon
• Doha Golf Club – Golf
• Doha Racing & Equestrian Club – Equestrian
• Doha Sailing Club – Sailing
• Hamad Aquatic Centre – Diving, swimming, synchronised swimming
• Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex – Soft Tennis, squash, tennis
• Khalifa Stadium – Athletics
• Lusail Shooting Complex – Archery, shooting
• Mesaieed Endurance Course – Equestrian Endurance
• Qatar Bowling Centre – Bowling
• Qatar Sports Club – Football (soccer), judo, karate, taekwondo
• The Sport City – Beach volleyball
• West Bay Lagoon – Rowing

Athlete's death

Tragedy struck the Asian Games when Korean equestrian athlete Kim Hyung-chil died after falling off his horse on the morning of December 7 during the cross country competition which took place in the rain.^[19] The accident occurred at jump number eight during the cross-country stage of the three-day eventing competition.^[20][21] After the horse, named Bundaberg Black, rolled over him,^[22] he was taken to the hospital, with his death later confirmed by the organizing committee.^[23] Kim died shortly before noon local Qatar time (6 pm South Korea time).^[24]

According to South Korea National Olympic Committee president Kim Jung Kil, sources on the course said that the horse mistimed his jump in the wet conditions and slipped. South Korean officials are asking for an inquiry to determine if mismanagement or rain was the cause of the tragedy.^[25]

"In my professional opinion, neither the weather nor the footing had any bearing on this accident. If the horse falls, it's like two tons of bricks falling on you. There is nothing you can do about it," said Andy Griffiths, the Games event's technical overseer.^[26]

Kim's father was an equestrian athlete for Korea in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the younger Kim won a silver medal at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan on the same horse.^[27]

This is the eighth death linked to the 2006 Asian Games, and the first involving an athlete.^[28]

Problems

Doping

The list of athletes which failed the doping test during the Games, and most of them caming from weightlifting:

• Myanmar's Than Kyi Kyi, the 48 kilograms weightlifter, tested positive for a banned diuretic.^[29]
• Oo Mya Sanda, also of Myanmar, silver medalist for 75 kilograms weightlifting, was tested positive for a metabolite.^[29]
• Uzbekistan's Elmira Ramileva, the 69 kilograms weightlifter, tested positive for an anabolic steroid.^[29]
• Alexander Urinov, also of Uzbekistan, the 105 kilograms weightlifter, tested positive for cannabis.^[29]
• Iraq's Saad Faeaz, a bodybuilder, disqualified from the Games after the banned steroid was found in his luggage in Doha International Airport.^[30]

Gender test

• India's Santhi Soundarajan, silver medalist for women's 800 metres run, was officially stripped of her medal after she failed a gender test. The news broke in the Indian media on December 17, two days after the official closing of the Asian Games.^[31][32]

Bed shortage

The Games organisers faced significant bed shortages due to the record number of more than 13,000 athletes and officials who attended the 2006 Games. The Athletes Village had space for only 10,500 people and was not large enough to accommodate the record amount of attendees. To resolve the problem, the Games organisers contracted with three cruise ships to provide sleeping quarters.^[33]

Last minute withdrawals

The Football competition lost three teams due to withdrawals and a suspension, which resulted in some rescheduling of the format and draws. Following the withdrawal of Maldives women's football team in early November, the women's football competition was forced to redraw to ensure both groups had an equal number of teams.^[34] Not much later, Turkmenistan announced their withdrawal due to the lack of options available in Qatar.^[35] Yemen also withdrew because the team was unable to afford a drug test after some of their players were accused of doping.^[36]

India made big changes to its team close to the opening ceremonies. On November 22, 2006, the Indian sports ministry shocked the Games organisers by dropping 8 of the 32 events they had previously announced that they would be contesting in the Games. The dropped events are football, basketball, handball, sepak takraw, triathlon, ten-pin bowling and rugby 7s. The events were dropped due to the lack of medal hopes and to cut costs. As a result, only 387 athletes will be sent to Doha instead of the original 589 proposed by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).^[37]

Some of the teams in the dropped events are expected to compete despite the removal of government support; the Indian football team has confirmed that they will participate under a "no cost to the government basis", as they did during the 1998 and 2002 Games.^[38] The manager of the football team has insisted that the team will participate even without government approval.^[39]

The Indian basketball team is definitely out of the games; the men's team failed to show for their match against Bahrain in the first preliminary round and the match was forfeited by the referee. The women's team is also likely to miss the Games.^[40]

The IOA has requested to reinstate the sepak takraw and fencing teams, and the request has been accepted by DAGOC. The IOA also attempt to fund the other teams defunded by the government.^[41]

While volleyball also had three teams withdrew from the Games, Palestine withdrew due to the travelling difficulties caused by the closure of the Gaza Strip border. Indonesia and Turkmenistan have withdrawn from the tournament, for unknown reasons, just hours before their first preliminary round match.^[42]

Broadcasting

The 2006 Asian Games broadcast worldwide by several television broadcasters. Confirmed broadcasters include:

• Afghanistan — Ariana TV broadcasted the Games live on TV and radio.
• Arab World — Al-Jazeera Sports broadcasted to Arab countries & the rest of the world.
• Australia — SBS began coverage of the 15th Asian Games Opening Ceremony and have weekly highlights on December 10 & 17 at 9:30am (AEST).
• China — CCTV-5 broadcasted in the People's Republic of China mainland both on TV and on the Internet, with some coverage on CCTV-1 and CCTV-9. Great Sports Channel and other sports channels in some provinces also have the right to broadcast.
• Europe — Eurosport broadcasted 120 hours live from November 28, 2006 across Europe.^[43]
• Hong Kong – Cable TV broadcasted.
• India — Doordarshan and All India Radio broadcasted the games live.
• Iran — IRIB
• Japan — NHK and TBS broadcasted.
• Malaysia — RTM and Astro broadcasted.
• Mongolia — TV5 broadcasted live throughout the nation.
• New Zealand — TV ONE broadcasted daily highlights.
• Philippines — NBN and Solar Sports broadcasted.
• Singapore — MediaCorp broadcasted.
• South Korea — Korea Pool (KBS/MBC/SBS) broadcasted.
• Sri Lanka — Channel Eye broadcasted live.
• Taiwan — TVBS broadcasted began November 29. ESPN and Star Sports broadcasted began November 30.
• Thailand — TV POOL broadcasted live.
• United States — World Championship Sports Network (WCSN) broadcasted live and on-demand coverage online began December 1 through December 15.
• Vietnam — VTV broadcasted.

References

External links

• Official Website
• RPSports.com Asian Games Coverage
• Stagelink - Opening Ceremony backstage & show photos taken in Khalifa Stadium during 2005 and 2006

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