Friday, November 9, 2007

Malaysian Contingent @ 2nd Asian Indoor Games Macau 2007

2nd Asian Indoor Games 2007

The 2nd Asian Indoor Games ended on 3rd November 2007. The Malaysian Contingent

comprised 103 male athletes, 30 female athletes, 49 male team officials and 4 female team officials, participated in 10 sports, Tenpin Bowling, Chess & Xiangqi, DanceSport, Dragon & Lion Dance, Extreme Sports, Futsal (men & women), Indoor Cycling, Indoor Hockey (men), Kabaddi (men) and 3on3 Basketball (men).

In the overall medal tally, the Malaysian Contingent finished with 3 silver medals and 6 bronze medals to be placed in 20th position out of 32 countries, which participated in the 2nd Asian Indoor Games. China with 52 gold medals, 26 silver medals and 24 bronze finished first, with Thailand in second position with 19 gold medals, 28 silver medals and 22 bronze medals. The Malaysian medal winners are shown below:

Silver

SPORT

EVENT

NOC

NAME

DATE

Inline Stunt

Inline Stunt - Big Air

Malaysia

FARIQ BIN MOHAMED ESA

2007-10-28

Southern Lion

Southern Lion - Public Stake Optional Ex

Malaysia

MAS

2007-11-02

Bowling

Women Singles

Malaysia

ZATIL IMAN

2007-10-28

Bronze

Skateboard

Skateboard - Park Best Technical

Malaysia

AHMAD FADZIL BIN MUSA

2007-10-27

BMX Freestyle

BMX Freestyle - Flatland

Malaysia

AHMAD SHAIFUL BIN AZIS

2007-11-02

Dragon Dance

Dragon Dance - Optional Exercise

Malaysia

MAS

2007-11-02

Chess

Men's Individual Classical Chess

Malaysia

MAS HAFIZULHILMI AGU

2007-11-01

Chess

Women's Individual Classical Chess

Malaysia

SITI ZULAIKHA BINTI

2007-11-01

Bowling

Women Team of 4

Malaysia

ZATIL IMAN\SIN LI JANE\KHOO WEI LING\NORHANIZAH BINTI ABU BAKAR

2007-11-02

The Men’s Futsal team qualified for the Quarter-Final, but lost 6 goals to 1 goal, to Uzbekistan, while the Women’s Futsal team lost all its preliminary matches. In Kabaddi, the Malaysian team won one match against Sri Lanka, by a score of 33 points against 31 points, out of the 5 matches played. In Indoor Hockey, the Men’s team qualified for the Bronze medal play-off, but loss to the India by a score of 4 goals against 7 goals.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Bowling: Women claim another bronze

THE women’s bowling back-up squad claimed another bronze medal at the 2nd Asian Indoor Games in Macau yesterday.

Led by Zatil Iman, the team posted 4,887 pinfalls after completing all two blocks in qualifying to take second position behind the star-studded South Korea team.

But the Malaysians failed to hold on to that advantage as they lost 793-720 to China in the semi-final.

The South Koreans, led by world champion Choi Jin A, took the gold beating China 957-833 in the final.

The Korean men made it a double when they won the men’s event beating Qatar 922-829 in the final. Malaysia finished 12th.
Malaysia had earlier won a silver in the singles event through Zatil.

It was, however, a good performance from the bowlers considering they were facing more fancied bowlers from other countries who sent their first-choice teams to the Games.

New Straits Times 3 November 2007

Friday, November 2, 2007

News @ 2nd AIG Macau 2007 - 1 November 2007

Malaysia Win Two More Bronze At Asian Indoor Games

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 1 (Bernama) -- Two national chess players gave Malaysia another two bronze medals at the ongoing 2nd Asian Indoor Games in Macau, China, today.The medals came from Men's Individual Classical Chess player, Hafizulhilmi Agu, and Siti Zulaikha in the Women's Individual Classical Chess.With the current medal tally of two silver and three bronze, Malaysia are in overall 17th position.China continue to lead with 46 gold, 21 silver and 19 bronze, followed by Hong Kong (11, 8, 8) and Thailand (10, 22, 19).

On Oct 28, Malaysia secured their first medal in the games through Ahmad Fadzil Musa in the Skateboard Event of the Park Best Technical category.The following day, two silver medals were won by Zatil Iman Abdul Ghani in the women's singles event in bowling and Fariq Mohamed Esa in the BMX freestyle (Inline Stunt) event in Extreme Sports (X-Sports).Nineteen countries are taking part in the games which kicked off on Oct 26.

The games, which ends on Nov 3, is offering 15 events which include traditional and modern games such as Xiangi (Chinese Chess), Dragon & Lion dance, finswimming, artistic cycling, cycle ball and others.Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) vice president Datuk Roy Rajasingham is leading the 132-strong Malaysian contingent to the Games.The Malaysians are competing in bowling, chess, Xiangqi (chinese chess), dance sports, dragon and lion dance, extreme sports (BMX freestyle, climbing), futsal (men and women), indoor cycling, indoor hockey (men), kabaddi and basketball (3 on 3).-- BERNAMA

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

News @ 2nd AIG Macau 2007 - 30 October 2007

Kabadi @ 2nd Asian Indoor Games



Malaysian Kabaddi Team



Malaysian 19 - 92 Pakistan
http://www.maigoc2007.com/php/data/en-us/Html/Item/KB101EB102/KB101EB102.HTM



Movie clips @ Kabaddi in action



CDM and Malaysian Secretariat with the Malaysian Kabaddi Team


Sport Climbing @
2nd Asian Indoor Games



Sport climbing in action.




Movie clips @ Sports Climbing in action



CDM, and Dato Sieh Kok Chi with Sport Climbing Team Manager, Mr. Zaidi (Center)

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

News @ 2nd AIG Macau 2007 - 29 October 2007


Futsal Women's, Malaysia 0 - 5 Japan






Indoor Hockey, Malaysia 4 - Korea 4





Movie clips @ Indoor Hockey...Gol!!!


Monday, October 29, 2007

Gold Continues To Elude Malaysia At Asian Indoor Games

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 (Bernama) -- Gold continued to elude Malaysia as the 2nd Asian Indoor Games in Macau entered its third day yesterday.Malaysia's medal tally currently stands at two silvers and a bronze.According to the Games' official website, Zatil Iman Abdul Ghani clinched a silver in bowling on Sunday through women's singles while the second silver came from Fariq Mohamed Esa in BMX freestyle (inline stunt).On Saturday, Ahmad Fadzil Musa secured a bronze in skateboarding for the park best technical category.A total of 19 countries are participating in the Games.China led the medal tally with 18 golds, 10 silvers and nine bronzes, followed by Thailand (five golds, nine silvers and nine bronzes) and Japan (five golds, three silvers and seven bronzes).Malaysia, with 132 athletes, ranked 12th in the medal tally of the biennial Games which began from Oct 26 to Nov 3.The contingent, led by Olympic Council of Malaysia vice-president Datuk Roy Rajasingham, are taking part in 11 events -- bowling, chess, xiangqi (Chinese chess), dance sports, dragon and lion dances, extreme sports, futsal, indoor cycling, indoor hockey, kabaddi and three-on-three basketball.-- BERNAMA

News @ 2nd AIG Macau 2007 - 28 October 2007

Malaysia Boleh! Two Silver Medals for Malaysia in Day 3


THE national bowlers, Zatil Iman won a Silver medal (Bowling- Women Singles) at the 2nd Asian Indoor Games at the Cotai International Sports Complex in Macau yesterday.


Zatil in the centre with CDM and Malaysian Team.


CDM congrats Zatil.



At Macau University of Science and Technology Pavilion, Malaysian athletes Fariq Mohamed Esa showed superb balance and control in Inline Stunts - Big Air competitions and put first medals (Silver) in Malaysia pocket. Malaysia Boleh!


Futsal Men's, Malaysia 6 - Afghanistan 1





Movie @ Futsal...Gol!!!

Sunday, October 28, 2007

News @ 2nd AIG Macau 2007 - 27 Oct. 2007

Malaysia Boleh! Malaysia nets first medal in X-Sport



At Macau University of Science and Technology Pavilion, Malaysian athletes Mohd Fadzil showed superb balance and control in Inline Stunts Park Best Technique competitions and put first medals (Bronze) in Malaysia pocket.


Malaysia Indoor Cycling (Cycle Ball Team) lost to Thailand 1-2.




CDM with the Malaysian Cycle Ball team



Malaysian Cycle Ball Team ( Zikri and Zulkifli) in action.


Movie clip @ Malaysian Cycle Ball Team


Malaysian Dance Sports at the Quarter Final.

In action, Johathan Fam and Tan Hsueh Ling at the Five Latin Dances Quarter Final Events.

Movie clip @ Dance Sport



Malaysia draws Indoor Hockey



CDM with the Malaysian Indoor Hockey Team.



The Malaysia team started its debut in the 2AIG Indoor Hockey events men category Saturday against Macau.
The first match of the Malaysian team ended with a four goals draw, against Macau. The score board was launched four minutes into the first half by Kali Kavandam Keevan Raj and Leong Lap Man scored back 10 minutes after.



Malaysia in action. Goal!!!

Malaysia @ Chess & Xianggi


CDM with the Malaysian Chess Team at the Macao International Shooting Range.




CDM with the Malaysian Xianggi Team at the Macao International Shooting Range.



Futsal at Preliminaries



Saturday afternoon women category played the preliminary matches between 6 teams. Vietnam draw with Uzbekistan in the first match showed a very balanced game were the ladies fought hard to keep their defense and offense. The second match was rough on Thailand who lost against Japan 2-3. The final match was claimed by Iran with a clear victory against Malaysia 13-1.


Malaysian in action, Malaysia 1 - Iran 13.

Asian Indoor Games: Search for elusive medal continuesBy



Zatil will feature in the women’s singles today.
THE national back-up bowling squad failed to win a medal at the 2nd Asian Indoor Games when Mohd Nur Aiman lost in the men’s singles quarter-final at the Cotai International Sports Complex in Macau yesterday.

Nur Aiman lost to Kuwait’s Khaled Al-Dubyyan 215-235 in the match which was decided over one game.Nur Aiman was the only Malaysian to make it to the second round after finishing sixth in qualifying with a total of 1,373 pinfalls. Only the top eight proceed. The event was won by Nayef Eqab Alabadla of the United Arab Emirates who beat South Korean Kim Hyun Suk 211-172 in the final.

Other Malaysians who failed to shine were Jonathan Lim, who finished 19th, Zaid Izlan at 31st and Syaherezan Fajrin at 44th. Trish Khoo, Zatil Iman, Sin Li Jane and Norhanizah Abu Bakar will start their challenge in the women’s singles today.

New Straits Times

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Malaysian Contingent at the 2nd AIG Macau 2007 Opening Ceremony - 26 Oct. 2007



THE second Asian Indoor Games got off to a colourful start at the Macau Stadium.




The opening ceremony presents a program rundown under the theme of Harmonious Host City, Joyful Indoor Games



Malaysian Contingent at the 2nd AIG Macau 2007 Opening Ceremony.



Malaysian Contingent at the 2nd AIG Macau 2007 Opening Ceremony.

News @ 2nd AIG Macau 2007 - 26 October 2007


2nd Asian Games Macau 2007 Torch Relay Ceremony at the San Van Lake City.


Malaysian torchbearer Nurul Ashikin Md Noor from Futsal Women.



CDM with Malaysian torchbearer Nurul Ashikin Md Noor


Movie @ Malaysian torchbearer Nurul Ashikin


Malaysia Men's Futsal team won the first game against Macau 5-2


Malaysian Futsal Men's Team


Fadzil in action.

Malaysia Flag Raising Ceremony at the 2nd AIG Macau 2007 - 25 October 2007

Movie clip @ Malaysia Flag raising ceremony.


CDM at the Malaysia flag raising ceremony.

Speech by CDM at the flag raising ceremony.


The flag raising ceremony.


Jalur Gemilang raising at the Macau2007 2nd Indoor Games.



Malaysia Contingent at the Flag Raising Ceremony.

News @ 2nd AIG Macau 2007, Malaysia Contingent Arrival on 23rd Oct. 2007















Accredation Counter at the Macau International Airport




Pick up & the Drop off station at the Macau International Airport





Bowling Team arrival at Macau International Airport

Thursday, October 25, 2007

News Alert @ Macau 2007 2nd Asian Indoor Games

79 bets vie in Macau Asian indoor games
ABS CBN News
- Oct 24, 2007
The Macau Indoor Games, serving as one of the final tune-ups for Filipino athletes competing in the Thailand SEA Games, follows the theme of "Harmonious ...

Tajik NOC places main hopes on sprinter Ajmal Amirov
Times of Central Asia (subscription)
, Kyrgyzstan- Oct 25, 2007
As it ad been reported earlier, Tajik track-and-field athletes and futsal players will participate in the 2nd Asian Indoor Games in Macau. ...

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

News Alert for: 2nd Asian Indoor Games

Shaikh Isa off for Macau Games

Gulf Daily News - Manama,Bahrain
... bin Rashid Al Khalifa will head today for Macau to attend the flag-hoisting ceremony at the second Asian Indoor Games which gets underway on Saturday. ...
See all stories on this topic

Nepali Team Off to Macau for Asian Indoor Games
Himalayan Times - Kathmandu,Nepal
A Nepali team on Tuesday left for Macau to participate in the second Asian Indoor Games to be held in Macau from October 26 to November 4. ...
See all stories on this topic

Pakistani contingent leaves for Indoor Asian Games
The Post - Lahore,Punjab,Pakistan
AP of Pakistan ISLAMABAD: A 28-strong contingent of Pakistan left for Macau on Tuesday morning to participate in the 2nd Indoor Asian Games being held there ...
See all stories on this topic

Star-studded contingent for Asian Indoor Games
Udayavani - Bangalore,India
New Delhi, October 23: A 186-strong Indian contingent, including 116 athletes, will take part in the second Asian Indoor Games to be held in Macau, China, ...
See all stories on this topic

148-member Indian team for Asian Indoor Games
Hindu - Chennai,India
NEW DELHI: India will field a 148-member contingent in the second Asian Indoor Games to be held in Macau from October 26 to November 3. ...
See all stories on this topic

Injuries May Dash Futsal Team's Hopes In Macau, Says Coach

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 (Bernama) -- With a number of first-choice players on the crock list, national Futsal coach P. Balakrishnan is forced to rely on a mixed squad for the 2nd Asian Indoor Games in Macau from Thursday to Nov 3.

Malaysia have been placed in Group A with Macau, Asean champion Thailand and Afghanistan. All matches will be played at the IPM Multisport Pavilion.

Balakrishnan said a mixture of seniors and juniors was unavoidable owing to injuries to regulars Saiful Mohd Nor, Fairuz Karnim, Mohd Phua Yusof and Zaidi Zulkifli, among others.

"It's a bit disappointing as the indoor games is one of the venues we had hoped to use as a base to build a stronger team for the SEA Games.

"Nevertheless, I hope the players can raise the level of their game to be competitive in Macau," he said.

The team preparing for the Macau games returned recently for a playing tour in Jakarta where they won in one match, drew in another and lost in two.

They opened their campaign against two club sides, going down 1-2 to Biang Bola and beating TNI 4-2.

They lost narrowly 2-3 to the Indonesian national team and completed their tour with a 2-2 draw against the same side a day later.

"Surely, there's improvement but in Macau, we will be up against Thailand, a side we all know have been the Asean Futsal king for several years," added Balakrishnan.

The other two matches in the group will be anybody's game.

-- BERNAMA

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Bowling: Double mission for Trish in Macau

Trish Khoo.
Trish Khoo.

NATIONAL back-up squad bowler Trish Khoo will be on a double mission when she competes in the 2nd Asian Indoor Games starting on Friday in Macau.

She aims to help the team win the gold medal, and then to impress the Sea Games squad selection committee.

"I am very excited about the Games. I hope to help the team win gold as this is our best chance," said the 20-year-old from Sabah.

"Of course if I do win in the singles, it would be great but I don't want to pressure myself as this is only my first time competing in a multi-games like this."

Trish said the Asian meet will also be her best chance to impress and be included in the Sea Games squad.
"I hope to bowl in the Sea Games but my teammate Zatil Iman is also doing very well so far this year.

"So, I think the Games will be a very important competition for us, as whoever performs will be in the squad."

Trish, who is the only spinner in the national team, joined the back-up squad in July following an impressive performance that saw her win the Thailand Open Youth title in May. She finished second in the Indonesian Open in August.

Presently, a first-year computer engineering student at Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Trish is waiting to be transferred to Universiti Putra Malaysia to suit her new life with the national team.

"I have been training in Sabah all this while and have only started centralised training with the team since the training camp in Penang two weeks ago," she said.

"With the move to Kuala Lumpur, I will get to train under the national team programme and will not need to skip classes for training and competition."

Meanwhile, coach Foong Tat Meng said the Macau Games, which ends on Nov 3, will serve as an exposure for the team.

"I heard the other countries are sending strong teams, but it doesn't matter to me," said Tat Meng.

"This is a place for them to gain experience to prepare them to get nearer to the elite squad standard. But I am sure they will give the experienced bowlers a fight."

Tat Meng said the team, who will leave today, had only a short Raya break and resumed training last Wednesday.

The squad - Men: Zaid Izlan, Muhd Nur Aiman, Syahereza Fajrin, Jonothan Lim; Women: Trish Khoo, Zatil Iman, Sin Li Jane, Noor Hanizah.

New Straits Times

Monday, October 22, 2007

Macao Indoor Games

Written by G.Ganbayar

Thursday, October 18, 2007.

THE 2nd Asian Indoor Games will be organized in Macao for nine days beginning on October 26. According to the organizing committee (MAIGOC), 3,575 athletes from 45 countries have already sent in their entries.
Of them 74 are medal winners at Asian and world championships. Their number is likely to increase in the following days.
The Games consist of both competing and demonstration sports. There are 17 disciplines in the first – aerobic gymnastics, bowling, chess, sport billiards, sport dance, dragon and lion dance, electronic sports, extreme sports, fin swimming, futsal, hoop sepaktakraw, indoor athletes, indoor cycling (artistic cycling and cycle ball), indoor hockey, kabaddi, muay, and short course swimming. The three demonstration sports are kickboxing, kurash and 3on3 Basketball.
The Mongolian team will participate in aerobatic gymnastics, sport billiards, muay, swimming, indoor athletics, chess, electronic sports, and in kurash and kick boxing.

Zatil aims to consolidate place in Games squad

KUALA LUMPUR: Young rising star Zatil Iman Abdul Ghani will be out to consolidate her place in the SEA Games bowling squad when she swings into action in the 2nd Asian Indoor Games, which will be held in Macau from Oct 26-Nov 3.

The 19-year-old Zatil, who bagged her first senior international title at the Singapore Open last month, is one of the bowlers in the eight-member team down for the Indoor Games.

Based on her current form, back-up bowler Zatil is one of the frontrunners for the six-member women’s team for the SEA Games bowling competition in Bangkok.

The others in the team for Macau are Trish Khoo, Nornahizah Abu Bakar, Sin Li Jane, Mohd Zaid Izlan Ibrahim Hakimi, Syahereza Fajrin Abdul Manan, Lim Chin Lung and Mohd Nur Aiman.

Yesterday, Games chef-de-mission Datuk Roy Rajasingham said the Asian Indoor Games would be a platform for some of Malaysia’s athletes to prepare for the SEA Games.

“Some of the top athletes are involved in bowling, hockey and futsal. I am confident that the Macau Games will provide them with stiff competition,” said Rajasingham, who is also the Olympic Council of Malaysia’s (OCM) vice-president.

Malaysia will be competing in nine out of the 16 sports in Macau. The sports are bowling, chess, xiangqi (Chinese chess), dancesport, dragon and lion dance, extreme sports, futsal, cycling, hockey and kabbadi.

Zatil
Malaysia will not be taking part in hoop sepaktakraw, cue sports, aerobic gymnastics, electronic sports, fin swimming, athletics and muay.

“I regret that we are not represented in athletics. These Games are a springboard for athletes to earn places to compete in other regional and international tournaments,” he said.

On the projected medal target in Macau, Rajasingham said: “We have a conservative goal of winning at least five gold and three silver medals.”

At the inaugural Indoor Games, Malaysia took part in only two sports and returned home with one gold medal through Ahmad Fadzil Musa in skateboarding.

The athletes are funded by their respective national sports associations. Incentives are not given but the OCM will consider if there are outstanding results.


Anyone for Kabaddi?

The Second Asian Indoor Games
Offer Spectators Some Offbeat Sports
By STEVE MOLLMAN
October 19, 2007

Faced with tough competition from Japan, can the Latin ballroom dancers of India cha cha cha their way to a gold medal? Will China claim the regional lion dancing crown against Malaysia's highly rated movers and shakers? And can the bleary-eyed videogamers of Mongolia notch up a rare sporting victory for their nation?

These and many other burning questions will be answered at the Second Asian Indoor Games, held in Macau from Oct. 26 to Nov. 3. The dancers and gamers will be joined there by Thai kick boxers, Sri Lankan kabaddi players, Indonesian hoop takraw aces and hundreds more patriotism-fueled athletes from 40-plus nations striving for medals in more than 20 sports.

The aim of the biennial event, according to the Olympic Council of Asia, is to "promote the Olympic ideal to Asian people" and "arouse their enthusiasm in sports that are good for mental and physical health."

That's all well and good, but for spectators the event serves another purpose: With so many mainstream sports excluded from the games, where else can you see so many quirky sports in one place? As well as only including sports that are played indoors, the council decided the event should have no overlap with the Olympics. So even events that sound familiar are often composed of obscure subcategories: In the pool, for example, we have fin-swimming (racing with flippers on), while on the cycle track there's artistic cycling (gymnastics on a bike) and cycle ball (soccer on a bike).

Next to those, events such as bowling and indoor field hockey may feel a little pedestrian. Other sports on show, running the gamut from the everyday to the exotic, include aerobic gymnastics, BMX freestyle, muay thai (Thai boxing), sports climbing, kurash (Uzbek wrestling), cue sports (yes, that does mean snooker and pool) and futsal (indoor soccer).

Here are a few of the highlights; full details are at www.maigoc2007.com1.

Lion Dancing

[Lion dance photo]
A group performs a lion dance during a competition in Indonesia.

With its weighty props, colorful costumes and traditionally dressed musicians, lion dancing is an elaborate affair. It's also a dangerous one: The two athletes hiding beneath the front and back of the large lion costume dance precariously along a series of slender poles of varying heights while the rest of their troupe plays traditional music. A misstep can mean a broken leg or worse. Each routine tells a different story, with the dancers striving to create the illusion of an agile four-legged cat being curious, playful, scared and excited. Judges rate routines by technique, difficulty and coordination with the music.

The sport originates from China, but Malaysia's decorated Kun Seng Keng troupe is confident it can win gold. That's thanks partly to lion dancing's popularity in Malaysia, not just among ethnic Chinese but also the rest of the country's population, says the troupe's secretary Ang Kuan Yau.

Kabaddi

[kabaddi4]
Kabaddi teams from India and Pakistan compete for gold at the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar last year.

Kabaddi is less elaborate than lion dancing; for starters, there's not a single piece of equipment. Two seven-player teams face each other from different halves of a 12.5-by-10-meter court. A "raider" from one side enters the other and tries to touch opponents and then jump back over to his side without getting captured (there's only a men's competition in the games). If he is captured -- as in grabbed, held and immobilized by opposing players -- the other team scores a point and he's out. But if he touches any opponents and makes it back to his side, then his team scores, and the tagged opponents are out. To make things interesting, the raider cannot inhale while on the other side -- and to prove it, he must continually chant the word "kabaddi," which comes from the Hindi term meaning "to hold one's breath."

The game is more violent than it sounds, with tackles getting vicious at times. Speed, strength, good reflexes and strategic thinking are all required, says E. Prasad Rao, technical director of the Asian Amateur Kabaddi Federation. Powerful lungs and endurance help, too, as the game lasts 40 minutes with only a five-minute break in the middle.

India, where the game originated, is a strong contender for the gold, but Japan, Iran, Bangladesh and Pakistan also all have talented squads.

Hoop Takraw

Almost as if the Southeast Asian sport of sepak takraw (kick volleyball) is too popular, the Asian Indoor Games has instead turned to its lesser-known cousin, hoop takraw. It's a team sport, but there is no interaction between opposing teams. Five players stand in a circle beneath a triangular hoop with a pyramid-shaped net on top of it, 4.75 meters (for men) or 4.5 meters (for women) overhead. Each side of the net contains a tiny hole, and the objective is to kick, knee, head or shoulder the ball into one of the holes as often as possible within 30 minutes.

As in kick volleyball, Thailand is the team to fear; the coaches of its men's team say they are 90% confident of winning gold. The Thais' biggest rivals are from Myanmar, where a traditional sport called chinlone parlays smoothly into hoop takraw.

Dance Sport

[Dance Sport]
Priti Gupta, left, and Shannon Benjamin, who will represent India in the dance sport competition at the Asian Indoor Games.

This competition is broken into two categories, standard and Latin, each including five styles; for standard, they are waltz, Viennese waltz, tango, slow foxtrot and quickstep; for Latin, samba, cha cha cha, rumba, pasodoble and jive. A handful of couples dance at the same time in front of the judges, who rate their routines.

Indian competitor Shannon Benjamin says the Japanese, who receive both top-notch international training and extensive government support, are the ones to watch. But with more than 30 million dance-sport enthusiasts, expect a strong showing from China, too.

E-Sports

New to this year's event is the e-sports category, in which contestants will duke it out in popular sports-related videogames such as the soccer title FIFA 07. Videogames join chess and xiangqi, a Chinese board game, among the less strenuous competitions at the games. But "athletes in (these) sports have to apply a lot of techniques and mental abilities to win," says Eric Chau, director for cultural events and communication for the Macao Second Asian Indoor Games Organizing Committee. The titles selected all promote Olympic ideals because, argues the committee, they're all related to real-world sports (soccer, basketball and motorsport).

The finals will be held on a stage with a handful of computers, and spectators will be able to watch the action on a big screen. The Mongolian team, which came away empty-handed from the first Indoor Games in Thailand two years ago, expects to win some medals in this category. Tsogt Sharavrentsen, a manager with Mongolia's national e-sports program, points to his star athlete, 19-year-old Lkhagvasuren Byambasuren, who forged his FIFA 07 skills in the Internet cafes of Ulaanbaatar. But the Chinese, in particular, notes Mr. Sharavrentsen, are formidable competitors.

--Steve Mollman is an Asia-based writer.