The 19th Asian Games, or the Asiad, came to a conclusion on October 8 at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province in east China, bringing to an end the 16 days of intense competition. The giant digital torchbearer, a highlight of the September 23 opening ceremony that symbolized the millions of participants of a digital Asiad torch relay, made a return to extinguish the flame of the Asian Games cauldron.

Like its earlier counterpart, the closing ceremony was once a vibrant display, seamlessly blending technology with artistry. It saluted the athletes who had competed passionately, and celebrated the host city and the upcoming hosts Nagoya City and Aichi Prefecture in Japan.

Raja Randhir Singh, Acting President of the Olympic Council of Asia, declared the whole event an "unprecedented success," and said the council "would never forget" what a perfect host Hangzhou had been.

"The power of sport, the power of the Asian Games, is to unite us all in life," he said. "I would like to thank the Chinese Government and the people of Hangzhou for everything you have done."

The moment of triumph

Flashback to 1974, when China won 33 gold medals during its debut at the Asian Games in Tehran, Iran. It was a remarkable journey, spanning two editions­—a third-place finish in 1974 with 106 medals, followed by a second-place in 1978 with 151 medals—before the country clinched the top spot for the first time in New Delhi, India, in 1982.

Fast forward to Hangzhou, where Chinese athletes continued their dominance, marking the 11th consecutive Games at which China topped the medal tally. China amassed 383 medals, its second most productive Asiad since Guangzhou 2010 when it achieved 415 medals. At this Games, China won 201 gold medals, surpassing its previous best of 199, achieved in Guangzhou.

Swimmers contributed the most to the medal tally of China, securing a remarkable 28 gold, 21 silver, and nine bronze medals across 41 disciplines. Among the leading athletes, male breaststroke world champion Qin Haiyang, who won five gold and one silver medals, and female butterfly star Zhang Yufei, who collected six gold medals, were honored as the most valuable players of the Games.

"The intensity of competing on the international stage as frequently as we did this year was exceptionally high, requiring a lot of hard work, discipline and sacrifice to pull it off—which I think we did," Qin said after winning the men's 50m breaststroke final in 26.35 seconds on September 29. Qin and basketball player Yang Liwei were the flag bearers of the Chinese delegation at the opening ceremony of the Hangzhou Asian Games.

Looking ahead with huge confidence, Zhang, after claiming the women's 50m butterfly gold on September 29, expressed her anticipation for Paris 2024. "Every race I swam this year, I did so with Paris in mind. I try to swim as many events as possible at every meet to improve my consistency and endurance so that I can elevate my performance when the time comes in Paris," she said.

In the pool, Zhang got to the wall first, capturing the 50m butterfly gold in 25.10 seconds. Behind her was teammate Yu Yiting who touched in 25.71 seconds while Japan's Rikako Ikee claimed bronze in 26.02 seconds.

Zhang and Ikee, who won six gold and two silver medals at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, shared a tearful hug at the medal ceremony to commemorate Ikee's first international podium finish since having beaten leukemia at the end of 2019.

According to Zhang, Ikee's story of fighting back from the disease inspired her to continue to race after falling sick as the competition was in full swing. "I wasn't feeling well during the Games and would have given up," she said. "But when I saw Ikee was still competing, I felt that I mustn't give in as she is there."

In another fascinating showdown at the Games, China's Olympic champion diver Quan Hongchan secured victory in the women's 10m platform event, defeating her teammate Chen Yuxi in a thrilling contest.

The 16-year-old Quan and 17-year-old Chen once again demonstrated their extraordinary talent and skill in the individual competition. Quan took an early lead, dominating the first three dives, but Chen surged ahead after the fourth round. It was Quan's final dive that secured victory, with her flawless dive earning her a set of perfect 10s.

A palpable silence enveloped the site in the moments leading up to Quan's decisive dive. As she executed her thrilling jump, a surge of energy jolted the entire arena. A video clip recording the dive, published on Douyin, China's version of TikTok, by the user Host Chen Huan, has garnered over 3 million likes.

Despite topping the medal tally, there is still much room for improvement and China's sports authorities have vowed to revitalize football, basketball and volleyball. But big changes may take time to materialize. Despite the fact that China reached the Asiad men's football quarterfinals for the first time since the Doha Asian Games in 2006, the national team suffered a 2-0 loss to the Republic of Korea on October 1, leaving fans in great disappointment.

On a positive note, the Chinese women's basketball and volleyball teams successfully defended their titles, and the men's volleyball team made it to the finals again after 17 years.

Trying something new

The Hangzhou Asiad saw two medal sports make their debut—esports and breakdancing.

Teams and individuals battled for a total of seven esports gold medals across a range of titles, including online soccer and multi-player battle arena games. China won four gold medals for the Asian Games versions of Arena of Valor and Peacekeeper Elite, Dream Three Kingdoms 2 and Dota 2, as well as a bronze for League of Legends.

Esports was the only competition in the Games to deploy a lottery system for tickets due to the huge demand. At around 1,000 yuan ($137) per ticket, esports was also among the most expensive events to watch. "Getting tickets for the competition was quite intense," Xu Kezhen, a 20-year-old fan, told China Daily. "I had to try five or six times before finally getting one. Everyone wants to come and support the Chinese team and their favorite players, so there was a rush to grab the tickets and show their support."

Another highlight of the Games was breaking, or breakdancing, in which two medals were awarded in the men's and women's categories. Asia's top breakdancing men and women took turns to perform routines in one-on-one battles and were judged on six categories: performativity, musicality, personality, creativity, variety and technique.

DJs, or disc jockies, play an important role in a breakdancing competitions as they are the exam-setters, who set the tone and provide the musical challenges for dancers. "Our athletes follow the music the DJ is playing to improvise and perform, and then the judges score them," Zhao Xiaoji, DJ for the breaking at the Asiad, told the Chinese international TV network CGTN.

"So first, we must ensure the beat is not too difficult nor complicated, and that the beat, music, tempo and melody stay on the same line," he added.

China's Liu Qingyi beat Ami Yuasa of Japan 2-1, while Japan's Shigeyuki Nakarai claimed a 2-1 victory over Kim Hongyul of the Republic of Korea to respectively claim the women's and men's breakdancing gold medals on October 7. Their wins earned both of them qualification for breakdancing events at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

"Getting a ticket to the Olympics has made me more confident. I hope I can do well in Paris," 17-year-old Liu told Xinhua News Agency.

Beyond the court

While the athletes dazzled with their extraordinary performances in the arena, there were notable off-court advancements that greatly enriched the overall experience for visiting teams, spectators and the media.

Convenient methods of payment play a pivotal role in the overseas travel experience, impacting everything from purchases and dining to transportation and other transactions. People have found it easier to make payments following efforts by the People's Bank of China (PBC), the NetsUnion Clearing Corp., a clearing house for online payments supervised by the PBC, and third-party payment service providers such as Alipay.

Alipay, China's leading third-party mobile payment platform under fintech giant Ant Group, now enables visitors to connect international bank cards like those issued by Visa, Mastercard and JCB.

"International visitors can make payment either with Alipay or their home digital wallets powered by Alipay+ cross-border payment solutions by simply scanning a QR code in China," Fu Lu, Director of cross-border business in Greater China at Ant's International Business Group, told Beijing Review on September 24. "Alipay's merchant network has been prepared so that visitors can pay for tickets to the Asian Games, as well as taxies, city buses, tickets to tourist attractions and in retail stores."

According to the Zhejiang Provincial Branch of the People's Bank of China, ahead of the kickoff of the Games, stores in the 324 Asiad venues had completed the processes needed for the use of foreign bank cards, mobile payments and digital yuan (China's digital fiat currency), and 121 hotels and 55 hospitals designated for the sports competition had also opened up their payment systems.

(Reporting from Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province)

(Print Edition Title: Competition and Beyond)

Copyedited by G.P. Wilson

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