18th ASIAN GAMES (2018)

COMPREHENSIVE RESEARCH NOTE

Host City – Jakarta, Palembang (Co-hosted by 2 cities) *For the 1st time Asian Games Co-
hosted by 2 cities.
Country- Indonesia
Motto- “Energy of Asia”
No. of Countries- 45 countries with 11,720 participants.
Opening Ceremony- 18th August
Closing Ceremony- 2nd September
*The opening and closing ceremonies of the Games were held at Gelora Bung Karno
Main Stadium in Jakarta.
Officially opened by- Joko Widodo (Indonesian President)
Officially closed by-Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah (President of the Olympic Council of Asia)
*China led the medal tally for the tenth consecutive time with 289 medals.
*North Korea and South Korea march under the Korean Unification Flag at the
opening ceremony and for the first time competed as a unified team in some events.
Next 19th Asian Games in 2022 to be held in Hangzhou, China.
INDIA’S PERFORMANCE
*India stood at 8th position in the medal tally with 69 medals (15 gold).
India bettered its previous best medal haul achieved 8 years earlier at the 2010 Asian
Games in Guangzhou, China.
*Neeraj Chopra was the flag bearer for the opening ceremony while Rani Rampal was
named as the flag bearer for the closing ceremony.
Neeraj Chopra won the country's first javelin gold medal, setting a new national record.
Swapna Barman won gold medal in women's Heptathlon which is India's first ever medal in
this kind.
P. V. Sindhu became the first Indian shuttler to reach the final of a singles badminton event at
the Games and eventually won a silver.
*Saina Nehwal won India's first ever medal in the women's singles event in badminton
at the Asian Games when she won the bronze medal after losing the semi-final.
*India secured its first ever medal in table tennis in the Asian Games as the men's team
won a Bronze medal by defeating Japan in the quarterfinal of the Table tennis at the
2018 Asian Games.
In the 25-meter rapid fire pistol event, Rahi Sarnobat became the first Indian woman to clinch
the gold medal in a shooting event of Asian Games.
*Vinesh Phogat, who won gold in the women's freestyle 50 kg category, became the first
Indian woman wrestler to win a gold medal at the Games.