Badminton star, Indian HS Prannoy, who won several medals, described the Asian Games in Japan as “very sad” for the athletes, considering that it was at a lower level compared to the Chinese version three years ago.
The organizers of the Aichi-Nagoya Games did not build a traditional village for athletes, in a move aimed at reducing costs; Instead, participants stayed in hotels, temporary wooden units, and a cruise ship.
Prannoy, who won the team bronze, said this made the athletes' experience disappointing.
“It was sad,” the 34-year-old said in a video clip posted by the Indian Badminton Association on YouTube on Saturday.
He added: "Honestly, we never felt like we were participating in the Asian Games."
He continued: “The fun and main goal of holding a multi-sport event is to have the opportunity to meet the rest of the athletes, interact with them, and have conversations with them.”
He added: “This is the goal of holding a multi-sport tournament... and it was very sad to find ourselves in such a situation, especially when you remember the Hangzhou 2023 tournament, and realize the extent of the astonishment that China presented in organizing it.”
The tournament witnessed a series of problems, including a shortage of rooms, long delays at airports, and poor transportation services.
Prannoy, who won two silver and a bronze medal in Hangzhou, added: “You expect the situation to be better after three or four years.”
He continued: “But things declined, and I think that many athletes faced difficult experiences regarding accommodation and means of transportation.”
He noted: “Honestly, it was a very average course.”
The Algerian national team's technical staff decided to exclude Rayan Ait Nouri, on Saturday, from the current training camp, against the backdrop of an incident that witnessed tension between the left-back and the technical staff during the confrontation with Zambia, which was held on Friday and ended with a 3-1 victory for the "Desert Warriors" in the African Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Ait Nouri, the English Manchester City player, had refused to implement the instructions of the technical staff following a heated verbal argument, after he was preparing to participate as a substitute, before the decision to include him was changed after the Algerian national team scored its second goal.
Nouri, 25 years old, started the match on the bench, given his limited participation with City since the beginning of the season, as he played only two matches with his team.
After scoring the second goal for Algeria, the player returned to the bench, before he was asked to resume the warm-up, but he did not respond to the instructions, which led to escalation of tension with the technical staff.
Ait Nouri did not participate in the match, before the national team coach, Ibrahim Hamdani, decided to exclude him from the camp.
The Algerian Football Federation said in a statement: “The national voter, Mr. Ibrahim Hamdani, decided this Saturday to release Rayan Ait Nouri from the current squad for the national team. The Algerian international will return to his club, Manchester City.”
With war and budget constraints hindering its progress, the Iranian tennis team celebrated modest victories at the Asian Games today (Sunday). The two female national team players won their opening matches in singles competitions.
Mishkat Al-Zahra Safi defeated the Tajik player Shakhzoda Asimova 6-0 and 6-1, while Mandekar Varzami joined her colleague in the next round by defeating Uzbek Sevil Yuldasheva 7-5 and 6-3.
Mishkat Al-Zahra Safi (22 years old) was the first Iranian to win a singles match in a major women’s tournament at the Australian Open in 2022 and ranked among the top 100 players in the world rankings for women’s girls, but she faced difficulty in moving forward as a professional player due to the lack of funding needed to tour and build momentum.
She said that seven months of war between the United States and Iran had only exacerbated the challenges, but tennis provided a vital escape from the anxiety arising from the conflict.
She explained during statements in Nagoya: “Tennis is a real outlet because the situation is very bad.”
She added: “Until a few months ago, the sounds of bombs could be heard nearby.”
“I have to be able to focus on tennis,” she continued. “No other player has to think about this.”
The four-member Iranian tennis team was able to reach Nagoya with the help of funding from the National Olympic Committee and the Iranian Tennis Federation.
French-Iranian Arvan Rezaei, a former professional player who has won four titles on the WTA Tour, has been appointed as the team's coach for the Asian Games.
Some athletes complained about the organization of the tournament, citing problems with accommodation and transportation, but Mishkat Al-Zahraa Safi had no complaints.
She said: “Participating in a tournament like this is a dream for us.”
She added: “It was a wonderful feeling.” “I was watching all these people watching me, and the atmosphere here is just amazing.”
She continued: “The organization is excellent, the stadiums and everything is wonderful. “I can produce the performance that I can.”
