{
  "id": 8320907,
  "title": "Asian Games to open in Japan after troubled build-up",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/18/asian-games-to-open-in-japan-after-troubled-build-up",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-18T21:54:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/highlight/2026/09/19/asian-games-to-open-in-japan-after-troubled-build-up"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The 20th Asian Games will kick off in Japan on Saturday with a spectacular opening ceremony, following a challenging build-up involving 17,000 participants, more than the number competing in the Olympics. The event, set to conclude on October 4th, will feature 468 gold medals across 45 sports. The Games, held every four years since 1951, will showcase a mix of global stars and regional talents, including basketball, football, cricket, sepak takraw, kabaddi, eSports, breakdancing, BMX cycling, padel, and MMA. Notable participants include Philippine tennis sensation Alexandra Eala, Indian cricketers Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Chinese swimmer Yu Zidi. Host nation Japan will rely on Olympic champions Shinnosuke Oka and Haruka Kitaguchi for success, while North Korea and China, aiming to top the medals table, will field over 800 athletes each. Weather forecasts predict a typhoon could disrupt the Games on Sunday or Monday, causing additional challenges.",
  "summary": "The event, which offers 2028 Olympic places in several sports, will award its first gold medal on Sunday but has been plagued by a series of problems.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 4,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Indian Express",
        "title": "India’s Varun Sanyal on Asian Games chaos: ’10 hours of running about, no food’",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/18/indias-varun-sanyal-on-asian-games-chaos-10-hours-of-running-about-no",
        "published": "2026-09-18T17:27:55.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "Asian Games to open in Japan after troubled build-up",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/18/asian-games-to-open-in-japan-after-troubled-build-up-8323274",
        "published": "2026-09-18T21:54:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "New Straits Times",
        "title": "Asian Games kick off in Japan amid accommodation, weather woes",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/18/asian-games-kick-off-in-japan-amid-accommodation-weather-woes",
        "published": "2026-09-18T22:56:15.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}