The Asian Games will be hosted in Hangzhou from September 23 to October 8 next year, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) said on Tuesday.
The 19th edition of the Games was scheduled to take place from September 10 to 25, this year, but were postponed on May 6 due to an increase of Covid-19 cases in China.
The Task Force met with the Chinese Olympic Committee, the Hangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee (HAGOC), and other stakeholders during the preceding two months to choose a timeframe for the games that would not conflict with other significant international sports events,” the OCA said in a statement.
“The Task Force’s proposed dates were formally authorised by the OCA EB, ” according to an OCA statement.
While the organisers promised that Asiad would not conflict with any significant athletic event, the 2023 World Wrestling Championship, and it will be an Olympic Qualifying event, overlaps the quadrennial event by one day.
The World Championships will be place in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, from September 16 to 24.
Wrestlers will have to participate in back-to-back big events in a short period of time, which is not ideal for a contact sport.
Due to the Asiad postponement, Indian wrestlers would have to fly immediately from Russia to China, with insufficient recuperation time.
The new timetable has not convinced the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI).
“How is it promising that the UWW, the sport’s global governing organisation, would sanction the Championship as an Olympic qualification event?” The dates of the World Championships may have to be altered by UWW “As per the WFI Assistant Secretary Vinod Tomar.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Olympic Committee stated, “We will work together with the OCA and the HAGOC to advance preparation work to ensure the success of the Games.”
According to a statement from the organisers, which was obtained by the state-run Xinhua news agency, The HAGOC will collaborate with all related parties in all-around order to prepare for the Games as per the declared dates to stage a spectacular sporting and cultural gala with Chinese Grandeur, Hangzhou Flavor, and Zhejiang Style.