Non-Olympic matches in Asian Games

The 2018 Asian Games kicked off on Saturday and will last for two weeks. Apart from 32 Olympic events, some unique games that are popular in Asia will also be played in Jakarta.

Bowling

Bowling was part of the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon. [Photo: VCG]

Bowling originated in Germany in the 3rd or 4th century and was included as a regular sport at the 8th Asian Games in Bangkok in 1978.

Suitable for people of all ages, the sport is popular in many Asian countries as well as in Europe, America and Oceania. South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Singapore have received good results in bowling at the Asian Games. This year, 180 athletes will compete for six gold medals.

Kabaddi

Athletes compete in Kabaddi at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou. [Photo: Chinanews.com]

Kabaddi is an outdoor contact tag/wrestling sport originating from Bangladesh and is similar to popular children's game "eagle catches chicken" in China. Men's Kabaddi received official recognition at the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing, while the women's event was recognized in 2010.

India shines in this sport. China attended the Kabaddi event in 1990 only.

Sepaktakraw

Athletes play Sepaktakraw at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon. [Photo: Xinhua]

The modern Sepaktakraw sport has a history of only 40 years. It was an exhibition even in 1982 and was regarded as a competition item in 1990.

Thailand has won 22 of the 33 gold medals of the Asian Games in this sport, while Myanmar, Malaysia and Vietnam have also performed well in the event. This year, 15 teams, including China, will compete in the games.

Squash

Zac Millar of New Zealand competes on the squash court at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia in April. [Photo: VCG]

Squash was invented in Britain's Harrow School out of the older game rackets around 1830. It became a formal event in the Asian Games in 1998 and Malaysia dominates in the field.

China has sent teams to attend Squash events since 2002 but has not medaled just yet.

Wushu

Sun Peiyuan competes in men's changquan at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta on Aug 19, 2018. [Photo: IC]

Wushu, a full contact sport derived from the Chinese martial arts, was included in the regular events of the Asian Games in 1990. However, though the event was recognized as an exhibition item in 1936 at the Berlin Olympic Games, it is still out of the Olympics after decades of effort to include it.

More than 220 athletes will compete for 14 gold medals in Wushu at this Asiad. Chinese athlete Sun Peiyuan captured the first gold medal of the 2018 Asian Games from men's Changquan on Sunday.

Contract bridge

Athletes playing contract bridge [File Photo: Xinhua]

Contract bridge, a trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck, originated from Britain in the 17th century.

The card game made its debut at the Asian Games in 2006 as an exhibition event. It was first recognized as a formal game this year in Jakarta. 24 Chinese athletes will compete against 193 others for six titles.

Paragliding

Chinese player Wu Yong performs in the Men's Team Accuracy event at the 2018 Asian Games on August 20. [Photo: VCG]

Paragliding was introduced in the Asian Games this year. Like any extreme sport, paragliding is a potentially dangerous activity.

Eight Chinese paragliders will attend the event, including a couple.

Jet-skiing

A player rides a water scooter at the 2017 China Liuzhou SGMW Cup International Aquatic-Speed Competition. [Photo: lzsports.gov.cn]

Jet-skiing is an extreme sport. China will send two athletes to compete in this high-speed discipline.

Electronic sports

Players at an e-sports game [Photo: thepaper.cn]

Electronic sports was included as an exhibition event in this year's Asiad and is very likely be to a formal competition in the next game in Hangzhou. The e-sports in Jakarta consist of six worldwide popular games and Chinese players will participate in three of them.