The 1991 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 16th Southeast Asian Games, was a multi-sport event held in Manila, the Philippines from 24 November to 5 December 1991, with 28 sports featured in the games. This was the second time that the country hosted the games and its first since 1981. It was officially opened by President Corazon Aquino at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila through a colorful opening ceremony. It was the only SEA Games at that time where the overall championship was heavily contested. The deciding medal came from the last sporting event - women's marathon where Indonesia got the gold medal.
The 9th Asian Games were held from 19 November to 4 December 1982, in Delhi, India. 74 Asian and Asian Games records were broken at the event. This was also the first Asiad to be held under the aegis of the Olympic Council of Asia. Delhi joined Bangkok as the cities to host multiple editions of the Asian Games up to this point. Later, Jakarta and Doha would enter this group.
The 1986 Asian Games, officially known as the 10th Asian Games and the X Asiad and commonly known as Seoul 1986 were held from 20 September to 5 October 1986, in Seoul, South Korea. The venues and facilities of the 10th Asiad were the same venues and facilities that would be used in the 1988 Summer Olympics, as it was considered a test event.
The 1990 Asian Games also known as the XI Asiad and the 11th Asian Games, were held from September 22 to October 7, 1990, in Beijing, China. This was the first Asian Games held in China.
The 1994 Asian Games, also known as the XII Asiad and the 12th Asian Games, were held from October 2 to 16, 1994, in Hiroshima, Japan. The main theme of this edition was to promote peace and harmony among Asian nations. It was emphasized by the host because the venue was the site of the first atomic bomb attack 49 years earlier. Due to the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq was suspended from the games. The games debuted former republics of the Soviet Union: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
The South Asian Games, formerly known as the South Asian Federation Games, is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among the athletes from South Asia. The governing body of these games is South Asia Olympic Council (SAOC), formed in 1983. Currently, the SAOC comprises 7 member countries, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan participated 4 times in the SAF Games since 2004, but left the SAOC after participating in the 2016 edition and joined CAOC.
The 1984 South Asian Games was the first edition of South Asian Games. It was held in Kathmandu, Nepal from 17 to 23 September 1984.
The 1985 South Asian Games were held in Dhaka, Bangladesh from 20 December to 26 December 1985.
The 1993 South Asian Games, officially the 6th South Asian Games, took place from December 20 to December 27, 1993, in Dhaka, Bangladesh and thus in SAF games history, Dhaka became the first city to host the event for second time.
The 2004 South Asian Games, officially known as the IX South Asian Federation Games, were held in Islamabad, Pakistan from 29 March to 7 April 2004. Originally scheduled for 2001, the games were postponed in the wake of the 9/11 attacks on the United States in which the US later declared Pakistan a major non-NATO ally. The slogan for the Games was Rising Above. For the first time, Afghanistan participated in the games.
The 1999 South Asian Games were held in Kathmandu, Nepal from 25 September to 4 October 1999. King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev declared the games open amidst a grand ceremony.
The 1989 South Asian Games, officially the IV South Asian Federation Games, were held in Islamabad, Pakistan from 20 October to 28 October 1989. Muhammad Ali appeared as a special guest at the closing ceremony.
The 2010 South Asian Games, officially the XI South Asian Games, was a major multi-sport event that took place from 29 January to 8 February 2010 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This was the third time that the Bangladeshi capital hosted the South Asian Games, thus becoming the first city to hold the games three times.
At the 2006 South Asian Games, the athletics events were held at the Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 23 August to 27 August 2006. A total of 35 events were contested, of which 20 by male and 15 by female athletes.
Sri Lanka participated at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.
The 2016 South Asian Games, officially the XII South Asian Games, is a major multi-sport event which took place from 5 February to 16 February 2016 in Guwahati and Shillong, India. A total of 2,672 athletes competed in 226 events over 22 sports. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 2016 South Asian Games in Guwahati on 5 February 2016. India continued its dominance in the game's medal tally with a staggering 308 medals including 188 gold medals.
The 2019 South Asian Games, officially the XIII South Asian Games, was a major multi-sport event which was originally slated to be held from 9 to 18 March 2019 in Kathmandu and Pokhara, Nepal. However, the dates were postponed and the event was held from 1–10 December 2019, coincidentally at the same time as the 2019 Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines. The new dates were confirmed at the South Asian Olympic Council Executive Board meeting in Bangkok on 1 March 2019. The Dasarath Stadium hosted the opening ceremony along with the men's football tournament, with the stadium's renovation after the 2015 earthquake completed in under 10 months with an increased capacity of 20,000, along with the closing ceremony on 10 December.
The 2018 Asian Games, officially known as the XVIII Asiad, is the largest sporting event in Asia governed by Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). It was held at Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia between 18 August – 2 September 2018, with 465 events in 40 sports and disciplines featured in the Games. This resulted in 465 medal sets being distributed.
The 2024 South Asian Games, officially the XIV South Asian Games, will be a major multi-sport event which will be held in Pakistan,and will have Lahore, the capital of Punjab province as main host city. The cities of Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Islamabad and Sialkot will give support to Lahore hosting some sports. The Games were scheduled to be held in March 2023, but later postponed to March 2024 by SAOC members at the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) conference in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This will mark the third time that Pakistan has hosted the South Asian Games since 1989 and 2004, and the first time that Pakistan has hosted the event outside of Islamabad.
Badminton at the 2006 South Asian Games was held in Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka between 16 and 22 August 2006. The badminton programme in 2006 included men's and women's singles competitions; men's, women's and mixed doubles competitions along with men's and women's team events.
