Incheon Asian Games declared open

The 17th Asian Games were officially opened in the western South Korean port city here Friday evening, attracting over 14,000 athletes and officials from 45 countries and regions across the continent.

South Korean president Park Geun-hye declared the Games open in front of International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief Thomas Bach at the Incheon Asiad Main Stadium, reports Xinhua.

The Asian Games, which will run till Oct 4, offers 439 gold medals in 36 sports and is the third Games to be hosted by South Korea, following 1986 Seoul and 2002 Busan.

China aims to dominate the medal table for the ninth consecutive time as they have sent more than 1,300 athletes and officials. It is their largest ever contingent for any Games overseas and has 897 athletes including 33 Olympic champions. They will compete in all 36 disciplines but kabbadi.

Since the 1982 Games in New Delhi, China has topped every medals table with its largest harvest of 199 golds at Guangzhou four years ago.

Meanwhile, three countries are seeking their first ever podium finish, namely Bhutan and the Maldives, both at their seventh outing, as well as East Timor, which is in its fourth Asian Games.

The Asian Games was first held in 1951 New Delhi and China and Japan are the only two nations to have finished first in the medal standings.