Bhubaneswar: India added 5 more medals on the concluding day to top the medal tally at Asian Athletics 2017 that came to an end with a spectacular closing ceremony at Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar.
India finished at the top with 12 Gold, 5 Silver and 12 Bronze – total 29 medals, biggest ever medal haul by India in any Asian Athletics Meet. China finished second with 20 medals, including 8 Golds.
As Asia’s biggest track and field event came to a close at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Sunday, it was marked by a memorable dance performance. Contrary to the event is just about a dazzling array of lights and sounds, Percept One conceptualized a closing ceremony that left a packed Kalinga Stadium and viewers around the world with a significant message of friendship.
The event was flagged off by Honourable Chief Minister of Odisha Shri Naveen Patnaik where he stated, “This Championship is now a landmark event in the India’s Sporting history and in years to come it has imprinted Odisha’s name all over the World of Sports. The event will be etched in memories of all the Indians because on the field heroics of the Athletes throughout the event.”
“In an extraordinary turn of event, India secured a Gold in the Men and Women Category of 400 m run and repeated the same feat in the 1500 m run as well. Manpreet Singh’s supremacy in the Womens Shot put and Sudha Singh’s sheer dominance in Womens Steeplechase will go down as one of the finest efforts in their respective categories.”
“Ama Odia Jhia Dutee Chand made the entire nation proud with her valiant effort on the track. These were accompanied by numerous champion performances by the participating nations as well which raised the bar of the competition. Also if Odisha gets an opportunity to hold the CommonWealth Games or the Asian games, we will be setting up satellite stadiums in Cuttack, Rourkela, and Sambalpur”, said the CM.
Other dignitaries including the Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court, Vineet Saran, Chandra Sethi Behera, Minister of Sports and Youth Services, Govt of Odisha, Adille Sumariwala, President, Athletics Federation of India, Aditya Prasad Padhi, Chief Secretary, Injeti Srinivas, Secretary, Sports, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India and R. Balakrishnan, IAS, DC-CUM-ACS, Government of Odisha, The Accountant General of Odisha, R Ambalavalan, Sunil Kumar Mishra, State Chief Information Commissioner, Padmashri Haldhar Nag, renowned Sambalpuri Poet, Vishal Kumar Dev, IAS, Secretary of Sports and Youth Services, Government of Odisha and Siddhant Mohapatra, Member of the Parliament, were also seen at the closing ceremony.
Sports Minister of Odisha, Chandra Sarathi Behera announced cash awards of Rs 10 Lakhs, Rs 7.5 Lakhs and Rs 5 lakhs for every single gold, silver and bronze medal winners in the Asian Athletic Championship.
AFI President Mr. Adile Sumariwala stated that he is extremely impressed with the facilities at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar and hence will be trying to get the World Junior Athletic Championship to Odisha in 2019.
The Symphony of Friendship – The 15 minute Act was based on the Symphony of Friendship, which was depicted through multiple sequences and formation. Much like the jumble march past it also involved the usage of the various country flags to depict, the coming together of the participants.
The act began with depicting local dance forms of 8 countries including Lavani & Bhangra of India. The act comprised of dance and light formations. The Zenith Dance group of Mumbai choreographed the entire act that also featured 250 students from the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS).
Dances in the Symphony of Friendship included Thailand’s Umbrella Dance, Japan’s Fan Dance, Malaysia’s Zapin dance, China’s Culture dance, Iraq’s Kwaleya dance, Hongkong’s Lion dance, Iran’s Bandari dance and India’s Lavani and Punjabi dance.
Kalinga AI