Published on November 11, 2005

[ASIAN INDOOR GAMES] The Asian Indoor Games, the first of its kind to be held in Thailand and Asia alike, kicked off yesterday, with the hosts blanking Kuwait 5-0 in the opening match of the futsal event at the Thai-Japan Youth Welfare Stadium.

The tournament proper will be held from tomorrow to November 19 with 1,382 athletes from 37 Asian countries featuring in nine sports disciplines – indoor athletics, futsal, aerobics, dance sports, extreme sports, hoop takraw, indoor cycling, Muay Thai and swimming – at four main stadiums in Bangkok, Chon Buri, Suphan Buri and Phuket.

A total of 121 gold medals are on offer. Thai sportsmen and sportswomen winning gold, silver and bronze will be given Bt1 million, Bt500,000 and Bt200,000, respectively.

HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn will preside over the opening ceremony at 5pm tomorrow at the Hua Mark Indoor Stadium. The ceremony will be telecast live on Channel 5, Channel 11 and iTV. Aerobics will take place from November 16 to 17 in Phuket, and dance sports will be held from November 14 to 15 at the Indoor Stadium Sport Complex in Bangkok.

Extreme sports – inline skating, BMX, skateboarding and sport climbing – started yesterday at the Suphan Buri Indoor Stadium and will conclude on November 18.

Hoop takraw is being held from November 15 to 18 at The Mall Bang Kapi, while indoor athletics will take place at the Indoor Athletics Stadium in Chon Buri from November 13 to 15.

Indoor cycling will be held at the Nimibutr Building, swimming at the SAT Sports Complex from November 13 to 17 and Muay Thai from November 13 to 18 at the Sapanhin Sports Complex in Phuket.

Yesterday in Futsal, Thailand showed no mercy while routing Kuwait in Group B, which has only two teams after the late withdrawal of Iraq. The Kingdom topped the group and will play the runners-up from Group A in the next match on Monday.

In other matches, Iran demolished China 5-0 and Kyrgyztan thrashed Uzbekistan 6-2 in Group A.

Somporn Suphop

The Nation

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