More than 5,000 artists and dancers will participate in the 50-minute opening ceremony at the Asian Indoor Games’ at My Dinh National Stadium on October 30.

More than 4,000 athletes, coaches and officials from 43 countries and territories will also march during the procession.

The national stadium has been outfitted with a 400sqm and a 100s.qm stage for the event.

The opening ceremony will feature horse dances from Thanh Hoa Province; Luc Cung Hoa Dang, a traditional Buddhist and royal dance; a gong performance from the Central Highlands; and a boat race from the Cuu Long (Mekong) River delta.

The performance will be directed by People’s Artist Le Tien Tho, which will be accompanied by a script from Nguyen Khac Phuc.

According to the organising committee of the event, the opening ceremony cost approximately VND40 billion (US$2.2 million) and will close with a 15-minute fireworks display at the 40,000-seat stadium tomorrow night.

As scheduled, 30,000 tickets, which cost VND100,000 ($5.6) to VND200,000 ($11), were put on sale on Tuesday.

More than 4,000 athletes, coaches and officials have registered to compete in 20 official sporting events.

Ha Noi will be the main venue for 11 of the events, with HCM City, Hai Phong, Bac Ninh, Hai Duong and Quang Ninh hosting additional events.

Viet Nam has invested more than $100 million in infrastructure for the event venues in participating cities.

The closing ceremony will be held at the Indoor Athletics Centre on November 8.

History

At the previous indoor games in Macau, China, Viet Nam ranked 13th in the events’ overall medal tally – with two gold, five silver and 11 bronze medals.

At the first Asian Indoor Games in Thailand in 2005, Viet Nam sent a 15-member squad to compete in six of the 15 events, which brought home one silver and one bronze medal.

The Asian Indoor Games is a biennial competition held by the Olympic Council of Asia for its 45 National Olympic Committee members and is designed to encourage young Asians to participate in a wider range of sports.

More information are available on website: www.vaigoc2009.com.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News