Spectacular fireworks bring curtains down on Asian Games

S S Ramaswamy
Guangzhou, Nov 27 (PTI) The skies lit up with dazzling
fireworks as an emotional China brought the curtains down on
the biggest Asian Games in a riot of colour, foot-tapping
music and a cultural extravaganza at the Haixinsha Island on
the Pearl River here Saturday.
If the opening ceremony held at the same riverside venue
on November 12th was high on technical wizardry, the closing
was a heart-touching display of warmth by the people of this
South China city whose infrastructure has improved
tremendously as a result of hosting the Games which saw India
record their best-ever medal haul till date.
India finished sixth on the medal rostrum with a record
14 gold, 17 silver and 33 bronze for an overall tally of 64,
eclipsing their earlier record of 57 medals in the 1982 Asian
Games in India's capital New Delhi.
The closing ceremony was also used by the Games hosts to
present cultural segments representing the different regions
of the continent, including South Asia in which Indian singers
Ravi Tripathi and Tanya Gupta enthralled the capacity crowd.
Hosts China were unstoppable in their relentless march to
titles and at the end of the Games had an incredible harvest
of 199 gold in an overall haul of over 400 medals, proving
once again that they are in the top-most echelons of world
sports.
Korea finished way behind in second place while Japan
were third that underlined the fact that the Asian Games, the
second largest sports event after the Olympic Games, are still
being overwhelmingly dominated by the far eastern nations of
the continent.
The prelude to the official part of the ceremony was
punctuated by dance of Qiling (a legendary animal symbolizing
good luck) to celebrate the success of the Games that was
followed by an exhibition of acrobatics and dance.
Performers staged "Dragon drunk on the Pearl River",
"Painting of Toy figuring in Emotion" and "Wind of the Yao
Ethnic Group" dances while flashbacks of the Asian Games
actions were shown on sail-shaped screens before the Chinese
President Hu Jintao and Olympic Council of Asia Chief Sheikh
Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah entered the arena to the strains of
the Chinese Military Band.
With nine plumes of red smoke rising up from the
Guangzhou Tower, an athlete jumped out of the screen while the
eight sail-shaped screens showed some memorable moments of the
Games competitions.
The plumes changed shape one by one and the fireworks
started on the Guangzhou Tower to symbolize the success of the
Games and the happiness it produced. More PTI SSR
SAK


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