Asian Para Games postponed due to concerns over COVID-19 in China

The Asian Para Games, which were scheduled to take place from October 9 to 15 in Hangzhou, China have been postponed due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic, the organisers officially announced on Tuesday.

"The Hangzhou 2022 Asian Para Games organising committee (HAPGOC) and the Asian Paralympic Committee (APC) today announced the postponement of the 2022 Asian Para Games, originally scheduled to take place from 9-15 October 2022," Asian Paralympic Committee said in a statement.

The decision, though inevitable, comes less than a fortnight after the Hangzhou Asian Games, which were scheduled to be held from September 10 to 25, were postponed indefinitely on May 6 amid surge in COVID-19 cases in China.

"A taskforce comprising of the APC, the Chinese Paralympic Committee and HAPGOC will now work on rescheduling the Games to take place in 2023. A further announcement on this is expected in the near future," the statement said.

The emblem, slogan and year of the Games will remain unchanged. More than 4,000 athletes were expected to compete in 616 medal events in 22 sports during the tournament.

"The Games preparations have been going very well and HAPGOC was ready to deliver an outstanding games," APC President Majid Rashed said. "This was not an easy decision to make but we have taken it now to give a level of certainty to the IFs, NPCs and athletes who were planning to attend the Games.

"We will now work with the organising committee on securing a new date that works for the para-sport calendar."