Bahrain flag raised at Asiad Village

TDT | Manama

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Bahrain's flag was officially raised at the Athletes' Village in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, ahead of the opening of the 20th Asian Games.

Among those present were mission director Ahmed Abdulghaffar and several members of the kingdom's contingent, including representatives from the boxing team.

As the national flag was hoisted during the traditional ceremony, Bahrain's contingent sang the national anthem as part of the build-up to tomorrow's official opening at Paloma Mizuho Stadium.

Running until October 4, the Games will bring together around 17,000 athletes and officials from 45 countries and territories, competing across 43 sports.

This year's edition marks Bahrain's 14th appearance at the continental showpiece. The kingdom made its debut in 1974.

Its delegation in Japan includes athletes competing in five-on-five and 3x3 basketball, athletics, handball, swimming, weightlifting, cycling, shooting, esports, taekwondo, wrestling, tennis, triathlon, wrestling, ju-jitsu and judo.

Although the opening ceremony is still to come, several competitions have already got under way. Bahrain's men's five-on-five basketball team completed their campaign in the quarter-finals, narrowly losing 79-74 to Iran after recording their best finish in six Asian Games appearances.

With the basketball campaign over, attention now turns to the kingdom's remaining competitors as they look to build on Bahrain's best-ever medal haul achieved at the previous edition in Hangzhou.

The Bahrainis placed ninth overall and emerged as the leading Arab nation after winning 12 gold, three silver and five bronze medals.