The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) on Sunday confirmed that the men's cricket final between India and Pakistan and the hockey semi-final between these two teams became the most-watched contest in the history of the Asian Games. The Shreyas Iyer-led Men in Blue defended their crown after beating the arch-rival by 19 runs in the Asian Games men's final, while the hockey team outclassed Pakistan 4-3 in the semis before eventually clinching the gold and securing a place in the Los Angeles Olympics.
"The broadcast had the biggest viewership ever for the Games. Thanks to two big matches: yesterday, the Pakistan-India cricket match was the most-viewed match, and the day before, the Pakistan-India hockey match was the most-viewed match ever in the Games' history," OCA Coordination Committee President Tayyab Ikram said at a press conference, according to news agency PTI.
It is worth noting that the OCA didn't release the exact viewership numbers, and Ikram also didn't reveal which of the two matches had higher viewership.
“For the very first time, the OCA demonstrated a safeguarding principle in these Games. From all aspects it was a safe Games -- for athletes, for Asian federations and for the National Olympic Committees,” he stated.
{{/usCountry}}“For the very first time, the OCA demonstrated a safeguarding principle in these Games. From all aspects it was a safe Games -- for athletes, for Asian federations and for the National Olympic Committees,” he stated.
{{/usCountry}}Both the cricket and hockey matches between India and Pakistan went down to the wire, and the contest was a little too close to call. In the end, the Indian camp came out on top in both games.
‘Aware about complaints’
Ever since the Asian Games began in Japan, there has been plenty of criticism of the organisers for scrapping the traditional Athletes Village as a cost-cutting measure. The organisers came up with a mix of hotel rooms, temporary wooden containers and a cruise ship to accommodate 17,000 athletes.
However, the OCA downplayed the criticism, saying there would always be challenges in managing multi-sport events.
“We are also aware that there were some complaints, and there were certain issues which were highlighted. Of course, there were some challenges, but the way we handled the challenges should be more important to highlight,” Ikram said.
“We tried to give our athletes the best conditions, logistics and communications. We have had many Games like Olympic Games, Asian Games, other continental Games, and there are always some challenges in the operations,” he added.
The OCA Director General, Husain Al-Musallam, also revealed that 54 world records, 11 junior world records, 89 Asian records, and 212 Asian Games records were broken during the Aichi-Nagoya edition.
“This achievement does not come without the best environment the organising committee created for the athletes. The athletes cannot perform if they don't sleep well, don't eat well and don't have good transportation. We are happy to see that there is no big financial burden on the organising committee, and there is no white elephant left staying in Nagoya or anywhere,” said Husain.
“Yes, the organising committee had challenges. But our duty and responsibility as leaders was to work hard with the organising committee to help Japan demonstrate to the world that Japan can deliver, with all the challenges, the best Games: the best environment for the athletes, the best coordination, the best peaceful (event),” he added.