The 18th Asian Games, scheduled to be held in two Indonesian cities – Jakarta and Palembang – from August 18 to September 2, will see the introduction of 10 new events and disciplines. It is certain that these unconventional and intriguing disciplines would make the quadrennial event, touted as second only to the Olympics in terms of size, far more interesting.
Almost all the countries competing in the Asian Games, including India, will be fielding their squads to ensure that they are well represented in each of the new events, some of which are very popular in South East Asian countries.
The 10 events that will make their debut in Indonesia are 3x3 basketball, jet ski, paragliding, bridge, pencak silat, rock climbing, Jujitsu, roller-skating, kurash, and sambo.
Here’s a closer look at each of the new additions at Jakarta 2018:
3x3 basketball
3×3 has been a basketball format long played across the world, albeit in a less formal way. Each team consists of three players and one substitute and the game is played on a half-court, with one basket. The rules of the game are more or less similar to that of regular full-court basketball.
Bridge
Bridge, a card game, will be featuring at the Asian Games for the first time. A country’s contingent can have a maximum of 24 members across the six events that will feature at the Asian Games – men’s team, mixed team, super mixed team, men’s pairs, mixed pairs and women’s pairs.
It is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. Each player is dealt thirteen cards from a standard 52-card deck. The World Bridge Federation is the governing body for international competitive bridge.
Jet ski
Jet ski is the brand name of a personal water craft (PWC) manufactured by Japan’s Kawasaki Heavy Industries. The term is often used generically to refer to any type of personal watercraft used mainly for recreation. The competitions will be held in three classes, namely Open, Stock and Modified, at Ancol Beach, Jakarta.
Paragliding
Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders. Keralites are familiar with the sports as there are a number of paragliding clubs in the state that host international competitions on an annual basis.
Pencak silat
Pencak silat is an umbrella term for a class of related Indonesian martial arts. The movements are flowing, strong and vigorous and resemble Kerala's own martial art form Kalaripayattu. It generally consists of a combination of hand/arm techniques and front kicks are typically aimed at targets below the chest. The one with the most number of points towards the end of the bout wins.
Jujutsu
Jujutsu is a Japanese martial art and a method of close combat for conquering an armed and armored opponent in which one uses either a short weapon or none.
Jujutsu is often likened to a game of chess as it requires an unparalleled level of concentration and the ability to foresee the rival's moves in order to be successful.
Methods of combat emphasise on grappling techniques such as throwing, trapping, joint locks, holds, gouging, and disengagements as compared with martial arts such as karate, which rely more on striking techniques.
Sambo
Sambo is a Russian martial art derived from Japanese judo and traditional Central Asian styles of folk wrestling. The term Sambo is an acronym for ‘Samozashchita Bez Oruzhiya’, which translates as ‘self-defense without weapons’. It is a medley of different martial arts and combat sports such as wrestling, judo, jujutsu, and boxing.
Kurash
Kurash is one of the Turkic terms for ‘wrestling’ and refers to a number of folk wrestling styles practiced in Central Asia, especially in Uzbekistan. Its combat techniques bear striking similarities to that of wrestling and judo.
The objective of the contest is to throw the opponent to the ground, but wrestlers are not allowed to attack their opponents under their waist, nor attack with joints. Despite being a centuries old martial arts form, Kurash became a sporting discipline only in the 1980s.
Rock climbing
Rock climbing is an activity in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations. But at the Games, climbing will take place on purpose built artificial rock walls. A variety of specialised climbing techniques and climbing equipment exists to provide safety to the contestants. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route without falling.
Roller skating
Roller skating, which has been a popular recreational activity for long, is set to make its debut as a medal event in the Asian Games. There will be competitions in Road 20 km race category for men and women. Both the events will take place at the Jakabaring Sport City Roller Skate circuit, Palembang, on August 31.
