Monday, October 20, 2008

Asian Beach Games 2008

The 1st Asian Beach Games having take place in Bali, Indonesia, from 18th to 26th October and is one of the largest multi-sport events in Asia and Indonesia with 19 sports, 3,000 athletes and 45 participating countries.

The opening ceremony of Asian Beach Games at Garuda Wisnu Kencana Monument, Jimbaran, Bali, on Saturday (18/10), was a spectacular display. Around 2.000 dancers performed the history of Indonesia in series of attractive movements and choreography.

The president of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, also attended to open the first and largest beach sports multi event in Asia. Beautiful music and performance were also among the main entertainment in the ceremony. Andre Hehanusa and Reza Artamevia, with Erwin Gutawa orchestra made the show even more extravagant.

Oka Sulaksana flamed the cauldron with the torch after being handed over from Taufik Hidayat followed by breathtaking firework display, lightening Bali sky as the climax of the ceremony. All participants are in five groups based on each of their Asian regions. As for security, 1.900 personnel from Bali Police Department and Military are standing by in all venues. This Asian Beach Games (ABG) having take around four places in Bali, and they are Kuta beach, Nusa Dua - Tanjoeng Benoa beaches, Sanur beach and Serangan Island.

On Sunday (19/10), I watched Body Building competes at the beach for the first time, and it was the largest beach multi event in Asia, which held at 6 p.m in Centro, to be exact at Discovery Shopping Mall, Kuta. The largest addition to the tourist scene in the Kuta area in recent years is the Discovery Shopping Mall located across from Waterbom Park on busy Jl. Kartika Plaza in Tuban. The place is very impressive looking and designed to attract attention.

I think I am very impressed of that the first Asian Beach Games in Indonesia brings a new feature in body building. Body building at the beach is very attractive, and I hope Body Contest event could be more familiar as well, because I'd like to participate this kind of event ^,^ As long as I'm in bali, I haven't participate any Body Contest competitions yet. I ever missed one chance to join that event which held in Kuta beach, on the beggining of July because of my schedule that required me to come back in Java. It was a little bit dispointing, because it'd be my first experience to compete at the beach, but it's ok, there will be many chances for me on years ahead to join with.

This is the list of any sports which be competes in ABG based on their avenue;

Kuta beach;

Nusa Dua - Tanjoeng Benoa beach;

Sanur beach;
Serangan Island;



Sport Disciplines;

Surfing
The sport of riding on the crest or along the tunnel of a wave.

Beach Wrestling
Beach Wrestling is practiced in swimming suit within a sand circle of 6m and consists of very simple rules. A match lasts three minutes and is refereed by a single referee. To win the match, the wrestler must keep his opponent’s shoulders on the ground (victory by fall), bring him to the ground twice or push him out of the competition area twice. This new wrestling style is very popular and contributes to wrestling being more accessible and festive.

Paragliding
Paragliding is a recreational and competitive flying sport using a free-flying, foot-launched aircraft. The pilot sits in a harness suspended below a fabric wing, whose shape is formed by the pressure of air entering vents in the front of the wing.

Jetski Sport
Jet-Ski Sport is an extreme competition on a type jet ski. The sport discipline involves racing and adrenaline-pumping free-style contest.

Woodball
Woodball is a lawn game where the players use a mallet for teeing off and fairway for playing and putting. Woodball consists of playing a ball from the starting area through the gate by a stroke or successive strokes in accordance with the Woodball Rules. The competitor who plays the stipulated round or rounds in the fewest strokes is the winner. Each team consists 2 to 4 players.

Windsurfing
Windsurfing is a surface water sport using a sailboard that is usually two to five meters long and powered by a single sail. The sport combines rules and aspects of both sailing and surfing, along with certain athletic aspects shared with other board sports like skateboarding, snowboarding, waterskiing, and wakeboarding.

Triathlon
Triathlon is an athletic event consisting of swimming, cycling and running over various distances. In most modern triathlons, these events are placed back-to-back in immediate sequence and a competitor's official time includes the time required between the individual legs of the race, including any time necessary for changing clothes and shoes.

Beach Sepaktakraw
Beach Sepaktakraw, a cross between soccer and volleyball, is a sport native to Southeast Asia, resembling volleyball, except that it uses a rattan synthetic ball and only allows players to use their feet and head to touch the ball across a volleyball-type net.

Dragon Boat Racing
Dragon Boat Racing is a sport where a very long and narrow boat is powered by a team of 10 to 50 paddlers. It originated in China and dragon boats are always rigged with decorative Chinese dragon heads and tails and are required to carry a large drum aboard that leads the crew throughout a race with the rhythmic beating that indicates the timing and frequency of paddling strokes, from the cadence to picking up the pace to slowing down.

Beach Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five active players each try to score points against one another by propelling a ball through a 10 feet (3 m) high hoop (the goal) under organized rules. Basketball is one of the most popular and widely viewed sports in the world. In Asian Beach Games, this sport will be performed at the beach.

Beach Pencak Silat
Beach Pencak Silat is a combative art of fighting and survival. Pencak Silat describes the martial art forms practiced throughout the Malay Archipelago. It has evolved in Indonesian and Malaysian civilizations for centuries into a social culture and tradition.

Beach Body Building
In Competitive Body Building, bodybuilders aspire to develop and maintain an aesthetically pleasing body and balanced physique to a panel of judges who assign points based on visual appearance according to body building standards. The competitors show off their bodies by performing a number of poses thus revealing their toned definition through a combination of fat loss, oils, and tanning or tanning lotions.

Marathon Swimming
Marathon Swimming is long distance swimming across large bodies of water such as the Great Lakes, the Atlantic Ocean and the English Channel. Marathon swimming is an endurance sport that pits a swimmer not only against other contenders in the race but also against the currents and tides of the water. According to International Swimming Federation rules, swimmers cannot use wet suits as this can artificially increase speed or endurance. Swimmers are accompanied by a nearby boat crew that monitors and advises the competitors.

Beach Soccer
Beach Soccer is a variant of the sport of football played on beaches. The irregularity of the soft-sand playing surface leads to a style of play where players must improvise. The compact pitch (measuring 28 x 37 meter) allows players to score from anywhere.

Beach Waterpolo
Water polo is a team water sport. A team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Gameplay involves swimming, players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a net defended by a goalie. As such, water polo has similarities to association soccer and netball. Beach water polo provides more challenge as it will be done under beach current and wind.

Sailing
Sailing is a surface water sport using a boat, sails, wind and water to increase, maintain or decrease speed.

Beach Kabaddi
Beach Kabaddi is basically a combative sport, with four players on each side; played for a period of 15 minutes with a 5 minutes break (15-5-15). The core idea of the game is to score points by raiding into the opponent's court and touching as many defence players as possible without getting caught on a single breath. One player, chanting Kabaddi!!! Kabaddi!!!! Kabaddi!!!! charges into the opponent court and tries to touch the opponent closest to him, while the four opponents make manoeuvres to catch the attacker. The players on the defensive side are called “Antis” while the player of the offence is called the “Raider”. The attack in Kabaddi is known as a ‘Raid’. This is Beach Kabaddi, the match of one against four which has all the ingredients of thrill, skill and dare.

The origin of the regular or principle form of Kabaddi dates back to pre-historic times played in different forms. The modern Kabaddi game was played all over India and some parts of South Asia from 1930. The past decade has seen manifest changes in the regular Kabaddi, which took on diverse forms to adapt itself to different climates, tastes and environment. The recognized forms of Kabaddi are the Regular Kabaddi, Indoor Kabaddi, Circle Style Kabaddi and the Beach Kabaddi. All these forms of Kabaddi have different set of rules, different logistic requirements, different playfields and varied number of players. What they share in common, however, is the public appeal since all these forms of Kabaddi display Thrill, Skill and Dare.

All these forms of Kabaddi are under the umbrella of the Asian Amateur Kabaddi Federation [AAKF] & the International Kabaddi Federation [IKF]. The Asian Amateur Kabaddi Federation [AAKF] was formed in the year 1978. The 1st Asian Kabaddi Championship was held in the year 1980 and was included as a demonstration game in the 9th Asian Games, New Delhi in the year 1982. The game was included in the South Asian Federation (SAF) games from the year 1984 at Dacca, Bangladesh. Kabaddi was included as a regular sports discipline in the 11th Beijing Asian Games 1990, Hiroshima 1994, Bangkok 1998, Busan 2002 & at Doha 2006.

The International Kabaddi Federation [IKF] was formed during the 1st World Cup in Kabaddi 2004 at Mumbai in India. The First Asian Women Championship was held at Hyderabad in 2005. Women Kabaddi was included for the first time in the South Asian Games held in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2006. The second World Cup was held in India at Panvel in 2007.

The 15th Asian Games Doha provided an excellent opportunity to showcase Kabaddi to the Europeans and Australians who were present in great numbers in organizing the Asian Games. A good many spectators belonging to European countries, USA, Australia, Western Asia, and the Mediterranean countries, who saw the Game for the first time, were very impressed with the simple rules and the thrill of the sport and desired to introduce the sport in their countries. This gave Kabaddi very good and positive exposure which augured well for its future development in the continents of Europe, USA, Australia and Africa. Kabaddi was included in the 2nd Asian Indoor Games held at Macau in 2007. The inclusion of Kabaddi in the 1st Bali Asian Beach Games 2008 in Indonesia is a major landmark in the history of the game.

The excellent presentation of Kabaddi in the 15th Doha Asian Games gave very positive results and Kabaddi has secured a foothold in a number of countries in the West, including Canada, West Indies, France, U.K, Italy etc. Among the various forms of Kabaddi, Beach Kabaddi is gaining unprecedented popularity, due to the easy to comprehend rules, no equipment required and since Beach Kabaddi can be played without any artificial surface or any special kit such as shoes etc. Most Beach Games are ball games and Beach Kabaddi is unique in the sense that it is perhaps the only body contact sport that can be played right on the beach with absolutely no equipments and frills.

Beach Volleyball
Beach Volleyball is an Olympic team sport played on sand. Like other variations of volleyball, two teams, separated by a high net, try to score points against the other by grounding a ball on the other team's court. Competitive beach volleyball teams usually consist of two players, though recreational variations can contain any number of players.

Beach Handball
Beach Handball is a team sport where two teams pass and bounce a ball trying to throw it in the goal of the opposing team. The game is similar to team handball, but is not played in a sports hall, but on sand instead. Matches are played in two or three sets depending on when a team wins their second set of the game.


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