LIVE UPDATES: Hangzhou Asian Games September 24

The action in the Hangzhou Asian Games 2022 in 2023 officially kicked off in Hangzhou, China starting September 24.

The pandemic-delayed continental meet opened on Saturday with the parade of nations at Olympic Sports Center Stadium on Saturday night.

The Philippines has 396 athletes from 40 sports in this year’s Asian Games.

LIVE UPDATES: Hangzhou Asian Games September 25

Strong start for Eumir Marcial at the Hangzhou Asian Games

FILE – Kayla Sanchez competes in a heat for the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay event during the swimming competition at the 2019 World Championships at Nambu University Municipal Aquatics Center in Gwangju, South Korea, on July 25, 2019. (Photo by Ed JONES / AFP)

Kayla Sanchez showed up at the relay finals on Sunday evening, energizing the Philippine swim team that wound up fifth in the women’s 4x100m freestyle at the 19th Asian Games.

Sanchez, the Olympic medalist from Canada who opted to suit up for the nation’s tri-colors, sprang out in full throttle as the quartet also powered by Xiandi Chua, Teia Salvino and Jasmine Alkhaldi got off to an auspicious start.

Photo from Alex Eala’s Facebook

Alex Eala begins her medal bid in the women’s singles event on Monday in the 19th Asian Games here.

Eala battles Sarah Ibrahim Khan of Pakistan in one of the featured matches at the city’s Olympic Stadium.

Gilas Pilipinas huddles after beating Changwon in a tuneup game at PhilSports Arena.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

Gilas Pilipinas finally arrived for the 19th Asian Games, bearing with it a positive mindset despite facing tremendous adversities prior to its departure.

Coach Tim Cone and his 12-man crew checked in at the Hangzhou International Airport Sunday afternoon following their six-hour flight from Manila.

Mark Ashley Fajardo, right, wins via first round knockout. –SEA Sports News PHOTO

Mark Ashley Fajardo made a smashing debut in the 19th Asian Games after scoring a first-round knockout of Bhutan’s Dorji Wangdi at the start of boxing competitions Sunday at Hangzhou gymnasium.

The young native of Cebu made it easy and quick by setting up Wangdi with a straight right, and then delivering a left to the jaw that dropped his foe to the canvas.

FILE – The Philippines’ Dij Rodriguez and Gen Eslapor in the 2021 AVC Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championships. AVC PHOTO

Dij Rodriguez and Gen Eslapor became the last Filipinos standing in the Asian Games beach volleyball after advancing to the quarterfinals on Sunday at Ningbo Banbianshan Beach Volleyball Centre in Hangzhou, China.

Rodriguez and Eslapor eliminated Macau’s On Leng Leong and Weng Sam Law, 21-15, 21-15, to prevail in their Round of 16 duel.

Asian Games – Hangzhou 2022 – Wushu Taijijian – Xiaoshan Guali Sports Centre, Hangzhou, China – September 24, 2023 Philippines’ Agatha Chrystenzen Wong in action during the Wushu Women’s Taijijian Final REUTERS/Tingshu Wang

Agatha Wong missed out on a medal in the Asian Games in the women’s Taijiquan and Taijijian final on Sunday at Xiaoshan Guali Sports Centre in Hangzhou, China.

The Filipino Wushu star failed to replicate her bronze medal feat in the 2018 Asiad in Jakarta, Indonesia after placing fourth with a combined score of 19.456 points.

Patrick King Perez wins poomsae bronze at the Asian Games.–ASIAN GAMES POOL PHOTO

Patrick King Perez delivered the first podium performance for Team Philippines at the 19th Asian Games with a bronze medal in men’s individual poomsae on Sunday.

The 23-year-old Southeast Asian Games champion gifted himself and the country with a third-place finish after dropping his semifinal showdown against Chinese Taipei’s Ma Yun Zhong at the Lin’an Sports and Culture Exhibition Centre here.

FILE– Philippines’ Shugen Nakano. INQUIRER PHOTO/SHERWIN VARDELEON

Judoka Shugen Nakano was shown the door by Japanese Ryoma Tanaka in the men’s -66kg round of 16 on Sunday in the 19th Asian Games at the Xiaoshan Linpu Gymnasium here.

The 26-year-old Southeast Asian Games gold medalist fell prey to the more assertive and fourth-ranked Tanaka, who completed his mastery of Nakano in just three minutes and five seconds.

The Philippines’ Teia Salvino at the Asian Games.–ASIAN GAMES POOL PHOTO

Even without Olympic medalist Kayla Sanchez, the Philippine women’s relay swim team still managed to squeeze into the medal race of the 19th Asian Games on Sunday at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium.

Two-time Olympian Jasmine Alkhaldi and Southeast Asian Games gold medalists Xiandi Chua, Teia Salvino and Chloe Isleta finished third in the second heat of the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay to secure a spot in the evening finals.

Skateboarder Mazel Alegado at the Asian Games.–POC PHOTO

FILE – A volunteer holds up country’s sign for Afghan men’s only team during a welcoming ceremony at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte, File)

In the first Asian Games since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, two teams of athletes are arriving in the Chinese city of Hangzhou, looking very different.

One, sent from Afghanistan where women are now banned by the Taliban from participating in sports, consists of about 130 all-male athletes, who will participate in 17 different sports, including volleyball, judo and wrestling, Atel Mashwani, a Taliban-appointed spokesman for the Afghanistan’s Olympic Committee, told The Associated Press.

China’s Qin Haiyang competes during the men’s 200 meter individual medley swimming heat at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Triple breaststroke world champion Qin Haiyang showed off his versatility by upstaging Olympic gold medalist Wang Shun to qualify fastest for Sunday’s men’s 200m medley final at the Asian Games.

Qin burst onto the scene at the July world championships in Fukuoka, becoming the first man in history to sweep all three breaststroke titles and also setting a new world record in the 200m.

Jerald Jacinto in the Asian Games men’s 100m backstroke qualifying heats

Jarod Hatch in the Asian Games men’s 100m freestyle qualifying heats

Gold medalists China’s Zou Jiaqi and Qiu Xiuping pose for a photo during a medal ceremony after the women’s light-weight double sculls final event of rowing during the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou in China’s eastern Zhejiang province on September 24, 2023. (Photo by JUNG YEON-JE / AFP)

China claimed the first gold when Zou Jiaqi and Qiu Xiuping dominated the women’s lightweight double sculls rowing final to kick off an expected medal rush for the hosts in Hangzhou.

First gold medal of the Asian Games 2023

Olympic medalists highlight PH’s opening salvo in Asian Games

Members of Philippines’ delegation take part in the athletes parade during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Asian Games at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium in Hangzhou in China’s eastern Zhejiang province on September 23, 2023. (Photo by Ishara S.KODIKARA / AFP)

Over the past several months, Filipino athletes ramped up their training, repeating every skill-sharpening task to the point of monotony.

They will need to be supercharged over the next few weeks as full-scale competitions get going on Sunday in the 19th Asian Games here in Hangzhou, China.

There will be a few questions answered: How will Kayla Noelle Sanchez, an Olympic medalist who used to be part of a vaunted Team Canada, fare as a spearhead of a program yearning to end nearly four gold-deprived decades?

Members of Philippines’ delegation take part in the athletes parade during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Asian Games at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium in Hangzhou in China’s eastern Zhejiang province on September 23, 2023. (Photo by Ishara S.KODIKARA / AFP)

Postponed for a year chiefly due to the pandemic, the delay that hit the 19th Asian Games was worth the wait and made incredibly stunning by the lavish and space-age opening ceremony on Saturday night.

Shortly after Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium, a festival of lights immediately took over and a dazzling visual show featuring splendid cultural attractions and the best China could offer.