MUSCAT, Nov 27 – While one half of the world hunkers down for a cold winter, others regions are still languishing in the sun, and it’s in Muscat, Oman’s coastal capital, that the Asian Beach Games are to take place from December 8 to 16, 2010.
Similiar in scope to other regional events such as the South American, Micronesian, and (to a lesser extent) the Commonwealth Games, the Asian Beach Games mix traditional cultural sports with Olympic standards.
As with all but the first two events at 2008’s inaugural Asian Beach Games in Bali, Oman's sports will be free entry, save for the opening and closing ceremonies.
In comparison, the roster of events at Muscat’s Al-Musannah Sports City has been slimmed down since Bali, but there’s still room for plenty of regional sports alongside Olympic standards.
Gone are the dragon boat races, beach wrestling and paragliding of Bali, but many regional sports remain: woodball (similar to croquet), sepak takraw (keepie uppie), and kabaddi (tactical team tag) join volleyball, water polo, body building and swimming alongside other pursuits.
New this year are the waterski and tent pegging disciplines – tent pegging being a cross between polo and jousting, an equestrian sport of military origin. – AFP