Kingdom to host Aimag in May next year
The 2021 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (Aimag) in Thailand will be held in May, a Thai official said yesterday.
Somsak Leeswadtrakul, adviser to Olympic Council of Asia president Sheikh Fahad Al-Sabah, said the OCA had scheduled the tournament for May 21-30.
The event, to be held in Bangkok and Chon Buri, will have 28 disciplines including muay (Muay Thai), kickboxing, e-sports, floorball, netball, sepak takraw, kurash, sambo, cheerleading, chess and indoor rowing.
The Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games are a merger of the Asian Indoor Games and the Asian Martial Arts Games.
Thailand hosted the inaugural Asian Indoor Games in 2005 and organised the first — and only — Asian Martial Arts Games in 2009.
After three Asian Indoor Games and one Asian Martial Arts Games, the two tournaments proved unpopular.
They were merged and rebranded as the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games which were launched in 2013 and held in Incheon, Soth Korea.
Thailand signed a contract with the OCA to host the 2021 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games last month.
“We are confident that the sixth Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games will be a success,” Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said after the signing ceremony.
“It will be a good opportunity for Thailand to show its potential as one of Asia’s leading countries in sports.”
Thai officials hope organising the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games will help boost their chance of winning the right to host the 2026 Youth Olympics.