The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until the 1978 Games. Since the 1982 Games, they have been organized by the Olympic Council of Asia, after the breakup of the Asian Games Federation. The Games are recognized by the International Olympic Committee and are the second largest multi-sport event after the Olympic Games.
The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) is the international governing body for flying disc (Frisbee) sports, with responsibility for sanctioning world championship events, establishing uniform rules, setting of standards for and recording of world records. WFDF is a federation of member associations which represent flying disc sports and their athletes in 100 countries. WFDF is an international federation recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), a member of the Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF), GAISF, and the International World Games Association (IWGA), and it is a registered not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation in the state of Colorado, U.S.
The Philippines men's national basketball team, commonly known as Gilas Pilipinas, is the basketball team representing the Philippines. The team is managed by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas.
The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) is a governing body of sports in Asia, currently with 45 member National Olympic Committees. Talal Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah was elected as President of the OCA on 8 July 2023. However, on 30 July 2023, the International Olympic Committee asked Randhir Singh, who was the acting president at the time, to continue as the Acting President of the OCA while the IOC investigated the OCA presidential election of 2023. On 13 October 2023, the IOC ethics committee asked the OCA to annul its 2023 elections due to Talal’s candidacy not fulfilling the eligibility conditions defined by the OCA Constitution and election interference by his brother Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah.
Soft tennis is a racket game played on a court of two halves, separated by a net. Soft tennis originated in Japan in 1884. Like regular tennis, it is played by individuals (singles) or pairs (doubles), whose objective is to hit the ball over the net, landing within the confines of the court, with the aim of preventing one's opponent from being able to hit it back. Matches are generally best-of-seven or best-of-nine. Soft tennis differs from regular tennis in that it uses soft rubber balls instead of hard yellow balls.
The Asian Handball Federation (AHF) is the governing body of handball and beach handball in Asia. It has 44 member countries, mostly located on the Asian continent, but excludes the transcontinental countries with territory in both Europe and Asia – Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russian Federation and Turkey – which are instead members of European Handball Federation (EHF). Three other states located along the western fringe of Asia – Cyprus, Armenia and Israel – are also EHF members. Hong Kong and Macau, although not independent countries, are also members of the AHF.
The Asian Baseball Championship is the main championship tournament between national baseball teams in Asia, governed by the Baseball Federation of Asia (BFA). It is held every other year in odd-numbered years and since 1983 it also functions as the qualification games for the Baseball at the Summer Olympics if the event year is exactly one year before the Olympics. In even-numbered years, the Asian Baseball Cup is held, to determine two qualifiers — one from the Eastern Division and one from the Western Division — to join teams from China, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea. The competition has been dominated by teams from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
Association football and basketball are the most popular sports in Asia. Cricket is the third most popular sport in Asia, and is most popular in South Asia. Other popular sports in Asia include baseball, badminton and table tennis among others. There are also some traditional sports that are popular in certain regions of Asia, such as the South Asian sports kabaddi and kho-kho, and sepak takraw in Southeast Asia. Top sporting nations/regions in Asia include China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, India, Iran, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
The Asian Football Confederation's Pre-Olympic Tournament was held from 3 April 1999 to 13 November 1999. Thirty-five teams entered the qualification for the three allocated spots for the 2000 Summer Olympics Football tournament in Sydney.
Gymnastics at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo was held in three categories: artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and trampolining. All gymnastics events were staged at the Olympic Gymnastic Centre, Tokyo in 2021.
The 2017 Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships was the 7th edition of the Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships, and were held in Bangkok, Thailand from 18 May to 21 May 2017.
The 2018 Asian Trampoline Gymnastics Championships was held at the University of Makati in Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines, May 19–20, 2018. It was the fourth edition of the competition overall and the second edition to feature senior level events.
The 2019 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held in Stuttgart, Germany from October 4–13, 2019. The championships took place at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle, and was the third time the city of Stuttgart hosted the event following the 1989 and 2007 editions, and the fifth time Germany hosted it.
Hong Kong competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, marking the territory's seventeenth appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut as a British colony in 1952. More medals were won at the 2020 Summer Olympics by athletes representing Hong Kong than ever before, and Hong Kong also won its first gold medal since the handover back to China.
The Judo Union of Asia (JUA) is the governing body of judo in Asia. It is one of the five continental confederations making up the International Judo Federation (IJF). JUA was formed in 1956 in Tokyo (Japan), with Chinese Taipei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Philippines and Thailand being the founder members. JUA has headquarters in Kuwait and consists of 39 member federations.
Venus Ng Wing Nam is a Hong Kong table tennis player. Since 2007, she became a full time athlete in Hong Kong Sports Institute. Her highest career ITTF ranking was 28 in July 2014. She was the first local player to win medals at the Asian Table Tennis Championships and the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals.
The Iran men's national 3x3 team is the 3x3 basketball team representing Iran in international men's competitions.
The 2024 Asian Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships were the 11th edition of the Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships, held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from 16 to 19 May 2024.
The 2024 Asian Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships was the 11th edition of the Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships, held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from 24 to 26 May 2024.
Abdulrahman Ben Saad Al-Shathri
