Asia’s greatest show begins

DOHA — The 15th Asian Games unfurls in this tiny oil-rich emirate tonight with the hosts vowing to stage what they billed as the "Games of your Life" — a fortnight of battle for sporting excellence among more than 13,000 athletes from 45 countries of the world’s largest continent.

Years of preparation will finally come into fruition when the symbolic Asian Games torch, shaped like the curved horns of the Arabian oryx, Qatar’s national animal which inspired the official Asiad mascot Orry, is brought into the 50,000-seater Khalifa Stadium to light the Cauldron at 7 p.m. (12 midnight in Manila) that would officially open the Games.

The 15th Asian Games Torch traveled over 50,000 kilometers to 15 countries and regions in more than 50 days, making it the longest relay in the history of the Games, which kicked off in New Delhi, India in 1951 with 11 countries, including the Philippines, and 489 athletes competing in just six sports.

Fifty-five years later, the field has multiplied four-fold with the bulk of the more than 13,000 athletes ready to don their respective team uniforms for the traditional march-past in a spectacular Opening Ceremony hyped to eclipse the Sydney Olympics rites in scale and scope.

Seven thousand dancers, singers, acrobats and aerialists are ready for their respective roles while 16,000 volunteers are raring to fulfill their duties that would ensure the successful staging of the event.

For the athletes, this is the moment of truth. It gives one the rare chance to perform for his country and for the billions more who will follow the Games on TV and on the Internet and before thousand fans in 16 world-class venues that will host the 39 sports.

But the Doha Asiad is not just about sports. The ceremony will also promote a message of peace and harmony with some members of the participating countries and regions represented in the 7,000 performers at the Khalifa Stadium.

"This is the most multicultural team I have ever assembled, there are performers from more countries than are in the Games," said David Atkins, the Australian theatrical producer.

The concept is based around the meeting of the desert and the sea and the spectacle will explore the history of Qatar and of Asia.

The RP contingent, composed of 229 athletic delegation, half of which have hit town early this week, will be led by four-time bowling World Cup champion Paeng Nepomuceno.

Tickets for the Opening Ceremony have been sold out two days before the opener, according to the Games website, with thousands of flags that seem like scores of kilometers of banners at roadsides and roundabouts here, huge billboards at strategic junctions, buses festooned with Asian Games logos further underscoring the full impact of the Games.