1st Asian Beach Games
Pesta Olahraga Pantai Asia Pertama

Logo of the 2008 Asian Beach Games.
Host city	Bali,Indonesia
Motto	Inspire the World
Nations	41
Athletes	1,665
Events	71 in 19 sports
Opening	18 October
Closing	26 October
Opened by	Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono President of Indonesia
Athlete's Oath	Andi Ardiansyah
Judge's Oath	Pergunan Tarigan
Torch lighter	Agus Salim Taufik Hidayat Oka Sulaksana
Main venue	Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park
Website	bali2008.com
Muscat 2010 →

The2008 Asian Beach Games orABG 2008 (Indonesian:Pesta Olahraga Pantai Asia 2008, Pesta Olahraga Pantai Asia Dua Ribu Delapan), officially the1st Asian Beach Games (Indonesian:Pesta Olahraga Pantai Asia Pertama) and commonly asBali 2008 (Indonesian:Bali 2008, Bali Dua Ribu Delapan), the inauguralAsian Beach Games, was held inBali, Indonesia, from 18 to 26 October 2008. The opening ceremony was held in theGaruda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park inNusa Dua.^[1]

There was no bidding process for Bali to host the games. Although six other countries showed an interest, Bali was chosen by acclamation.

It was the second time that Indonesia had hosted an Asia-levelmulti-sport event, afterJakarta held the1962 Asian Games.

The official logo of the games represents the water element that embodies the sporting event.

The shining sun comes from the emblem of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and represents its vital role in Asia's sport development and the spreading energy created by the solidarity of the OCA. The selection of the light and deep-blue effects represents the color of Balinese waters. The two vertical lines represent twopura (Balinese Hindu temple), an image of the gate to a Balinese house of worship which signifies the ultimate hospitality of the Bali society in honouring and welcoming people from all over Asia. The two big waves represent the commitment as well as the enthusiasm of the host city to holding the first Asian Beach Games.

The letters "BALI 2008" are in red to show the spirit of sportsmanship and the typeface selection emphasizes the pride of all athletes competing in Bali.

The official mascot of the First Asian Beach Games was theBali starling (Leucopsar rothschildi), locally known as "jalak Bali", the official mascot ofBali and a bird speciesendemic to the island.

The bird symbolizes Bali with all its uniqueness and serves as a reminder that the bird, like Bali, is beautiful, yet sacred. It is therefore apt that the official mascot of Bali was chosen as the official mascot for the first Bali Asian Beach Games.

There were five venues for this games.

Sponsors includeSwatch (official timekeeper and information system provider),Carisbrook (official wardrobe),Pertamina (Indonesian state-owned oil company),Panasonic andSamsung.

A joint venture between Host Broadcast Services and IMG Media named the International Games Broadcast Services (IGBS) served as the games' host broadcaster. This was the first sporting event broadcast by the company as it previously broadcast theDoha 2006 Asian Games under the name Doha Asian Games Broadcast Services (DAGBS).^[2]

The Bali Asian Beach Games Torch Relay started on 8 October 2008 atMrapen inGrobogan,Central Java, famous for itseternal flame. The flame was lit with the aid ofnatural gas.

From Mrapen, the torch was carried toSemarang, the capital city of Central Java, where the torch was carried to the Governor Office by Indonesia's famous sprinter,Suryo Agung Wibowo.

On 9 October 2008, the torch arrived in Jakarta. On the next day, the torch was paraded from theCity Hall to Indonesia's Minister of Youth and Sport Office, and finally arrived at theIstana Merdeka to be given to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

On 10 October 2008, the torch headed to Bali for a nine-day inland tour across ten regions (one city and nine regencies).

More than 500 people (45 per district) were involved in the torch relay as torch bearers. They came from the sports world as local, national and international athletes, coaches and officials. More than 2,000 people participated in the parade.

The journey was a showcase of Indonesian culture to international audiences, especially Balinese traditional art, dance and music.

The opening ceremony was held in theGaruda Wisnu Kencana, a great monumental cultural park inNusa Dua, the most luxurious region in Bali.

President Yudhoyono officially opened the games when the torch reached the Garuda Wisnu Kencana.

The ceremony highlighted Indonesian cultural arts and included international performers such asMark Lazarro fromIndia andChristian Bautista from thePhilippines, as well as famous Indonesian singers and composers, such asReza Artamevia,Andre Hehanusa andErwin Gutawa.

Andre Hehanusa,Christian Bautista andMark Lazarro sang "To Be One" while the Indonesian female singer,Reza Artamevia, performed the games anthem, "Together We Inspire the World".

About 41 country leaders and several very important persons, including members of theBritish royal family and theQatari Royal Family, attended the opening ceremony.

The 2008 Asian Beach Games were closed byIndonesia's Vice President,Jusuf Kalla, on 26 October 2008.

A countdown clock cost Rp800 million (US$87,521) was situated at Lumintang Field.^[3]

41 Asian countries participated in the games.

October 2008	18th Sat	19th Sun	20th Mon	21st Tue	22nd Wed	23rd Thu	24th Fri	25th Sat	26th Sun	Gold medals
3x3 basketball							●	●	2	2
Beach handball	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	2		2
Beach kabaddi		●	●	●	2					2
Beach sepak takraw	●	●	●	2		●	●	2		4
Beach soccer	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	1	1
Beach volleyball	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	2	2
Beach water polo		●	●	●	1					1
Beach woodball	●	●	●	2	2					4
Beach wrestling							2	2		4
Bodybuilding		●	6							6
Dragon boat		2	2	2						6
Jet ski						●	3	1		4
Open water swimming								2	2	4
Paragliding			●	●	●	4	4			8
Pencak silat	●	2	●		6					8
Sailing				●	●		●	6		6
Surfing		1	1	1	1	1				5
Triathlon									2	2
Total gold medals		5	9	7	12	5	9	15	9	71
Ceremonies	OC								CC
October 2008	18th Sat	19th Sun	20th Mon	21st Tue	22nd Wed	23rd Thu	24th Fri	25th Sat	26th Sun	Gold medals

  *   Host nation (Indonesia)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Indonesia (INA)*	23	8	20	51
2	Thailand (THA)	10	17	10	37
3	China (CHN)	6	10	7	23
4	South Korea (KOR)	4	7	10	21
5	Japan (JPN)	3	3	3	9
6	Hong Kong (HKG)	3	3	2	8
7	India (IND)	3	0	2	5
8	Vietnam (VIE)	2	5	3	10
9	Myanmar (MYA)	2	3	0	5
10	Malaysia (MAS)	2	2	6	10
11	Chinese Taipei (TPE)	2	2	3	7
	Pakistan (PAK)	2	2	3	7
13	Syria (SYR)	2	0	0	2
14	Kuwait (KUW)	1	2	0	3
15	Kazakhstan (KAZ)	1	1	2	4
16	United Arab Emirates (UAE)	1	1	1	3
17	Singapore (SIN)	1	0	2	3
18	Afghanistan (AFG)	1	0	1	2
19	Mongolia (MGL)	1	0	0	1
	Oman (OMA)	1	0	0	1
21	Philippines (PHI)	0	2	8	10
22	Brunei (BRU)	0	2	3	5
23	Jordan (JOR)	0	1	0	1
24	Bahrain (BRN)	0	0	1	1
	Bangladesh (BAN)	0	0	1	1
	Macau (MAC)	0	0	1	1
	Maldives (MDV)	0	0	1	1
Totals (27 entries)		71	71	90	232

• Bali 2008 – 1st Asian Beach Games –Olympic Council of Asia official site
• Official website
• The Big Picture –The Boston Globe

• 2008 Asian Beach Games
• 2008 in multi-sport events
• Asian Beach Games
• 2008 in Indonesian sport
• International sports competitions hosted by Indonesia
• 2008 in Asian sport
• Multi-sport events in Indonesia
• Sport in Bali

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