The Asian Games is one of the biggest sporting events in the world, with almost 11,000 athletes from 45 nations and territories competing in this year’s edition.
The 2018 Asian Games, co-hosted in Jakarta and Palembang, not only marked the 18th edition of the event, but it was also the first event in which Cathay Pacific was the Hong Kong team’s official airline partner. Cathay Pacific will also fly Hong Kong athletes to major events for the next four years, including to the 2020 Olympic Games and 2022 Winter Olympic Games.
This partnership sees athletes get a special check-in counter, lounge access, luggage tags and wallets, and if members of the Hong Kong team are on your flight, you’ll probably hear about it: there will be special PA announcements welcoming them onboard.
Want to get behind the HKSAR team? Here’s a quick review of the just-finished Asia Games, and our medal hopefuls to look out for in the future.
Jakarta, again
The 2018 Asian Games wasn’t the first to be held in Jakarta. The 1962 event was held in the Indonesian capital, but this time the South Sumatran city of Palembang shared the hosting.
Number of countries/territories competing: 45
Number of athletes: up to 11,000
Number of sports: 58
New sports: bridge, sports climbing, martial arts and mechanical sports (paragliding, jetski)
Cancelled events: cricket
Demonstration sport: e-sports involving six video games. It will become an official sport in 2022
A quick history of Hong Kong at the Asian Games
Hong Kong has competed in the Asian Games ever since 1954, faring well for a small territory and finishing as high as 10th in the overall medal standings. 2018 saw the SAR walk away with a record haul of 46 medals, including eight golds.
First games: 1954
Number of Asian Games competed: 15
Total medal count: 231 (38 gold, 80 silver, 113 bronze)
Best finish: 10th in 1986 (5 medals: 1 gold, 1 silver, 3 bronze)
Biggest medal haul: 46 in 2018 (8 gold, 18 silver, 20 bronze)
Most successful Hong Kong athlete: Sarah Lee Wai-sze (7 medals; 5 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
A big Hong Kong team
The 2018 Asian Games saw the biggest Hong Kong delegation ever sent to an Asian Games.
Number of Hong Kong athletes: 586
Number of sports: 40
Oldest representative: Roger Ling (bridge), 67
Youngest representative: Chan Lam (diving), 14 years and two months
Sport with most athletes: Football, 41 athletes
2018 athletes with most Asian Games: Chau Ho-wah (badminton), fourth Asian Games
Our medallists
Hong Kong came away with 8 gold, 18 silver and 20 bronze medals at this year’s Asian Games. Here’s how some of our individual athletes fared, and who we might see on the podiums of future events
Angus Ng Ka-long, badminton
Ng is one of the finest men’s singles players Hong Kong has ever produced. He’s ranked 9 in the world, came second in the recent 2018 German Open, but was beaten in the quarter-finals this time by eventual finalist Chou Tienchen, from Chinese Taipei. One to watch in future events though.
Credit: Sonny Tumbelaka/AFP
