Rain-hit Asian Games battle scheduling logjam

NAGOYA – Asian Games organisers faced multiple scheduling headaches on Sept 28, as persistent rain disrupted several competitions at the sprawling multi-sport event.

Tennis, surfing and cricket were among sports hit by poor weather on Day 9 of full competition.

Both the men’s cricket quarter-finals between Pakistan-Hong Kong and India-Afghanistan were washed out after the playing field was drenched at Korogi Athletic Park on the outskirts of Nagoya.

With no contingency built into the schedule, Pakistan and India advanced to the semi-finals of the T20 tournament by virtue of their higher ranking.

It was a bitter pill for Afghanistan, who saw the gold medal go to India due to the rankings rule three years ago when their Hangzhou Games final was abandoned due to rain.

“The rain started yesterday, so hard luck for us,” said Afghanistan opener Mohammed Akram.

“We would have been happy to play here with India – our players are in form. But unfortunately the rain has ruined everything.”

Powerful typhoon Surigae lashed Japan’s southern Okinawa prefecture on Sept 28 and was projected to track north-east towards central Japan and the Tokyo region by midweek, raising the prospect of strong winds and heavy rain further disrupting the Games.

Typhoon Dujuan hit the Games early on Week 1, causing equestrian events in Tokyo to be suspended, though most competitions were unaffected.

The continental sporting showpiece is mainly based in the city of Nagoya and Aichi Prefecture but Tokyo is also hosting diving events while Osaka has football matches.

The rain saw several tennis matches scrapped on Sept 27 and caused match delays on Sept 28.

Fans hoping to catch Filipino headliner Alex Eala’s opening match against Thai opponent Patcharin Cheapchandej were repeatedly frustrated at the Higashiyama Park Tennis Centre.

Eala, the women’s top seed, had her match shifted off centre court amid the scheduling logjam but was yet to start by mid-afternoon.

Poor wave conditions saw the surfing called off early at the Long Beach venue south-east of Nagoya, with medal finals having already been pushed into the final scheduled day on Sept 29.

India’s Kishore Kumar Anbarasu was able to complete his heat before it was abandoned, beating China’s Ma Wensong to make it into the quarter-finals on the sport’s Asian Games debut.

“It was not the easiest conditions. It was very hard to find the good waves,” said Anbarasu.