Postcard from Nagoya: Asian Games opening hour nears, but teething problems remain

The Asian Games opening ceremony at Paloma Mizuho Stadium on Saturday will fire the starting gun on the first official days of competition in Nagoya and Tokyo, even if some athletes have already finished their events.

Various team sports such as basketball, football and volleyball are working their way through the group stages, while some poor unfortunates, such as Hong Kong’s Shum Chun-hei and Liu Hei-yu, have already competed and bowed out.

The pair were taking part in the modern pentathlon, which is making its Games debut, and did not qualify for the medal round on Sunday. Would you stay for the opening, or in their case, closing, ceremony?

As usual, the media has descended in their thousands to cover the regional sporting bonanza, although with some events based in Tokyo, the need to go to pick up accreditation in Nagoya caused a certain amount of irritation.