Hilarious goof-up leaves top Indian athletes hitching rides at 2018 Asian Games torch relay
The 2018 Asian Games torch relay ended in a rather comical fashion for top Indian athletes as they ended up hitching a ride for the final stretch of the event due to the haphazard organisation. Athletes such as PR Sreejesh, Sardar Singh, Jitu Rai, and Sharath Kamal hitched a ride on the media bus.
The 2018 Asian Games is set to be an extravagant affair with all the top Asian athletes battling it out for glory at the biggest sporting event in the continent. The games will be held in Palembang in the city of Jakarta, Indonesia from August 18 to September 2 and this will be the first time that two cities are co-hosting the Games which made it a more challenging task for the organisers.
But a haphazard organisation of the 2018 Asian Games torch relay, which served as a pre-tournament event, at the birthplace of the Asian Games in New Delhi led to a comedy of errors and forced top Indian athletes to hitch rides for the final stretch of the relay. Respected Indian athletes like P R Sreejesh, Sardar Singh, Jitu Rai and Sharath Kamal hitched a ride with media personnel aboard to cover the short distance involved from National Stadium to India Gate and back.
“The whole thing was a bit chaotic but it is okay. We did not mind it so much,” said a top athlete, who was part of the ceremony, told PTI.
However, the overall event was a success nonetheless as the 2018 Asian Games torch relay began its 18,000km journey from the National Stadium, where the Games’ flame was lit for the first time at the inaugural edition in 1951.
“India always holds a special place in the hearts of sportspeople in Asia, because the nation, specifically New Delhi, was the birthplace of the Asian Games,” said Erick Thohir, chairman of Indonesia Asian Games Organising Committee (INASGOC).
Indonesian badminton legend Susi Susanti was the one to hand over the torch to India’s five-time world boxing champion MC Mary Kom (who will not be travelling to Indonesia as she recovers from an injury), who ran with the flame for a while before she passed the baton to other Indian athletes.
Hockey veterans Sreejesh and Sardar Singh, table tennis