The SAR Government, in order to make good use of a series of sports facilities built and renovated for the 4th East Asian Games in 2005, to continue to promote the development of Macau's tourism and sports with large-scale sports events, and to further enhance Macau's international image, decided to apply to the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) for the hosting of the Asian Indoor Games on August 9, 2002, after a detailed deliberation between the Olympic Committee of Macau (OCM) and the governmental departments of sports. Subsequently, at the 22nd OCA General Assembly held in Kuwait on January 24, 2003, Macao was unanimously approved by all members and was awarded the right to host the 2nd Asian Indoor Games in 2007, and officially signed the contract as the host city on August 20 of the same year.
Introduction of the 2nd Asian Indoor Games
The Opening Ceremony of the 2nd Asian Indoor Games was held on October 26, 2007 at 8:00 pm at the Macau Stadium. The Games*** will bring together 45 Asian countries and regions, with more than 3,000 athletes competing in 17 official events and 2 demonstration events***, and will produce 477 medals for the official events and 76 medals for the demonstration events.
Second Asian Indoor Games Asian Indoor Games Slogan
Beyond Limits, Reach New Heights
Second Asian Indoor Games Emblem (see photo)
The sun is taken from the emblem of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), which represents the OCA's important role in the development of Asian sports and its power. It also symbolizes the passion, charisma and unity of the Asian people. The design next to the sun is based on two Chinese characters, two yellow lines forming the character "人", which indicates the spirit of human-centeredness. The two blue horizontal lines form the Chinese character "二", bringing out the message of the "Second Session". The two green verticals represent two growing trees, highlighting the host city's commitment to environmental protection and the healthy development of sports in Asia. The last six strokes of the logo are simple lines outlining the image of the "indoor" under the roof tiles, which also evokes the meaning of "foundation". As a whole, the emblem brings out the vibrant and multicultural character of Macau, and the idea of building a solid foundation for the future of the Asian Indoor Games.
Mei Mei, the mascot of the 2nd Asian Indoor Games
Mei Mei was conceived as a representative of the black-faced spoonbill, a wild migratory bird that arrives in Macau every year. As "Meimei" soars into the sky, it symbolizes Macau's spirit of pioneering and innovation in sports. It also symbolizes the power of youth, freedom and innovation of the Asian Indoor Games. The use of the migratory bird as the mascot not only demonstrates the vitality of spreading its wings and flying high, but also implies that "Meimei" is leading the Macau public to participate in the 2nd Asian Indoor Games in 2007.
Introduction of the 19 sports of the 2nd Asian Indoor Games
1. *Aerobics*
Aerobics is an artistic sport that originated from the traditional health dance. Aerobics athletes must perform a continuous, complex and highly compact dance routine. The dance steps and hand movements must show a perfect harmony between the movement, music and performance of creativity, fully express the aerobics movement of "health", "power", "beauty" characteristics and a high degree of Artistic, and try to avoid the repetition of movements. Aerobics competition is divided into single men and women's race, mixed doubles and triple race.
2. *Bowling*
Bowling is a sport with a long history and global popularity. It dates back to Roman times, Ancient Egypt, and even the Stone Age. The earliest record of bowling is from the remains of the pyramids, where the Ancient Egyptians, 7,000 years ago, were found to have used balls made of round objects and bottles made of marble.
3. *Chess*
Chess is an intellectual sport. Whether it is Chess or Chess, the goal is to be the first to capture the opponent's king (the king is called "marshal" or "general" in Chess). Chess is a sport that places great emphasis on a player's ability to use strategy and calculation. In the team competition, it also emphasizes the group cooperation among the athletes.
4. *Billiards*
Billiards is a family-friendly sport. Players simply stand next to a rectangular table and push the ball with a cue with a thin, rubber-tipped end. The inside of the table is surrounded by rubber cushions that allow the balls to hit back and forth inside the table. This was originally an outdoor "pole and ball game" has evolved into an indoor sport.
5. *DanceSport*
DanceSport is seen as a sport played on a dance floor. Male and female athletes need to cooperate with each other to dance two styles of dance in the dance floor: standard dance and Latin dance. Standard and Latin dances consist of ten events, including the waltz, tango, Viennese waltz, foxtrot and quickstep; Latin dances include the samba, cha-cha-cha, rumba, bullfighting and cowboy dance. Each dance is unique and fast-paced. Athletes will cross the center line and dance counterclockwise.
6. *Dragon and Lion Dance*
The lion dance is divided into two main schools: the Southern Lion and the Northern Lion. The northern lions resemble real lions in appearance and are covered with golden-colored fur. A red or green bow on the head is used to identify whether the lion is male or female. The Southern Lion is brave and strong, and a dancer wearing a Big Head Buddha mask leads the dance in front of it. In terms of dance steps, the Northern Lion is more focused on jumping, while the Southern Lion focuses on dancing on flat ground. As for the dragon dance movement, the athletes need to dance the dragon body to show the might of the dragon, and at the same time, it also signifies good luck, joy and happiness.
7. *E-Sports*
E-Sports, as its name implies, is a sports competition played through electronic devices. Like common sports, eSports focuses on fairness and competitiveness, but it also emphasizes the use of strategy in addition to physical combat. We can think of eSports as a kind of chess sport that requires quick reactions. Although eSports is different from traditional sports on the surface, its core sportsmanship is the same.
8. *Extreme sports*
Extreme sports are a rapidly evolving series of exciting, creative activities that maximize an athlete's physical and mental potential. The sport combines competition, adventure, excitement, creativity and exhilaration. At the same time, extreme sports also represent a new culture of life, where athletes not only focus on practicing their sport, but also like to incorporate its concepts into their behavior, fashion tastes, music preferences and even everyday language.
9. *Flipper Swimming*
Flipper Swimming is a sport based on diving and competitive swimming, and requires athletes to wear flippers (flippers) during competition.
10. *Indoor Futsal*
Indoor Futsal is a team sport based on traditional soccer, and is an indoor sport that requires athletes to be quick and have excellent ball control skills. A shirt, shorts, socks, shin guards and shoes are the five essentials for futsal players.
11. *Basketball*
Basketball originated in Thailand and is a sport sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Basketball (FIBB), in which teams are made up of five players each and a reserve player. During the game, unlike basketball or soccer, which require players to compete against each other, the players focus on trying to kick the ball into the rattan basket.
12. *Indoor track and field*
Track and field is one of the most popular sports in the world, and is usually played outdoors as well as indoors. Since the size of an indoor track and field is different from that of an outdoor venue, the length of an indoor track and field circle is 200 meters. But because it is held indoors, the spectacle is relatively high.
13. *Indoor Cycling*
Indoor Cycling consists of two completely different styles of events, Figure Cycling and Cycling Ball. Figure cycling is simply gymnastics performed on a bicycle; while cycling ball is pedaling a bicycle to an event similar to indoor field hockey or soccer. Since the sport is played indoors, it is not affected by the weather. Indoor cycling requires athletes to be highly focused, balanced and courageous at all times.
14. *Indoor Hockey*
Indoor field hockey is a transformation from outdoor field hockey. Because indoor field hockey is played on a narrow field, it requires very good ball control. During the game, the ball can only be passed by pushing and not by swinging or picking. The puck can only be played on the ground, except for shots on goal. Athletes are required to push, pass and dribble the ball with great skill. Indoor field hockey is a sport recognized by the International Hockey Federation.
15. *Kabaddi*
Kabaddi, which originated in South Asia and is also very popular in Southeast Asia, is a folk sport for young men in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Kabaddi is played on a flat field without any assisting equipment, and the game is divided into two teams of seven men each, with a 20-minute men's half and a 20-minute men's half.
The game requires athletes to hold their breath for a long period of time to chase, the field is divided into two halves with the center line as the boundary, and there is a "blocking line" in each half of the field. During the game, each team stood in their own half of the field, a member of the attack need to rush across the center line into the opponent's field, continuously shouting "Kabaddi", and after passing the blocking line with any part of the body to touch the defender. The person touched is out of the game and the attacking team scores a point. However, at the same time, if the attacker fails to shout during the chase or is caught by the defender before crossing the line of scrimmage, he is also penalized and the attacker loses a point. If the attacker does not touch any of the defenders and does not leave the field without being fouled or caught himself, he may run back to his own side of the field, make a draw, and change to the other team's offense. The game is played by both teams taking turns sending an attacker, and the team with the highest score wins. This sport requires agility, good lung capacity, muscle coordination and quick reflexes.
16. *Thai Boxing*
Thai Boxing has been practiced for hundreds of years in Thailand and is known as the Thai martial art by the Thai people. Muay Thai allows both fighters to utilize any part of the body, such as the elbow, knee, foot, or fist, to attack and defend. The rules of Muay Thai, which allow athletes to fight each other physically, make Muay Thai different from other combat sports of the same type. In addition, because Muay Thai athletes only wear shorts to compete, it is also particularly popular with male athletes.
17. * Short Course Swimming (25 meters)*
Swimming competitions are divided into two main categories: standard course and 25-meter short course, both of which can be held indoors. 25-meter short course can be divided into smaller events based on different strokes. While the 25-meter short course has its own facilities, the standard pool can also be used for the 25-meter short course.
18. *Libre Combat (Demonstration Event)*
Libre Combat originated in the United States in the 1970's as Full Contact Karate, and was introduced through the World All-Styles Karate Organization (WASK), founded in Germany in '75-'76. In 1978, the first World Championships of the sport were held in Berlin. In 1978, the first World Championships were held in Berlin, and in order to avoid confusion with the traditional sport of karate, the organization changed the name of the competition to Kickboxing in 1980, and the name of the organization to the World Association of Kickboxing Organizations (WAKO) in response to the change in the name of the sport. Since 2006, WAKO has been an accredited affiliate of the International Federation of Individual Sports (FISU) and is a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and the sports organized through WAKO are commonly known as WAKO Freestyle Combat. Today there are seven forms of competitive combat under the WAKO banner, including Semi-Contact Combat, Full-Contact Combat, Low Kick, K1 Rules, Musical Forms and Aero-Kickboxing.
The World Federation of Free Fighting Organizations (WFFO) conducts Free WAKO activities in Asia through the Asian Free Fighting Federation (AFFF), which is coordinated by the AFFF's Asian Chapter. The Asian WAKO Federation was founded on December 19, 1996 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Nowadays, millions of supporters around the world are participating in WAKO, and it is believed that the program will continue to grow at a steady pace in the future.
The World Federation of Free Fighting Organizations (WFFO) and the Asian Free Fighting Federation (AFFF) are organizing the 2nd Asian Indoor Games 2007 in Macau with only three disciplines: Semi-Contact Kickboxing, Full-Contact Kickboxing and Low Kickboxing.
19. *Kejutsu (Demonstration Event)*
Kejutsu is a traditional style of wrestling that began in Uzbekistan 3,500 years ago. "Kurash" translates to takedown or wrestling in Uzbek, and it is popular and valued in Central Asia, especially in Uzbekistan. During the match, the competitors (one wearing a green robe and the other wearing a blue robe) must bring their opponent to the ground. If the opponent lands on his back, the winner is declared immediately, and points are scored for a technique that brings the opponent to the ground on his side. If the opponent falls only on his stomach, buttocks, or a minor fall, the points are reduced, and if one of the competitors lands on his knees or falls out of the area, the judges have the right to call a timeout and signal the competitors to return to the preparation line in the area. The contestant must not pull on the pants of the opponent. Competitors are not allowed to pull on each other's pants but are free to hold them tight. KJJ is very much about balance and quick footwork, so athletes practicing KJJ may also be involved in similar sports such as Judo and Russian Sambo martial arts.