ASIAN GAMES 2018 - JAKARTA. Indonesia has officially passed the baton to Hangzhou, China, the host of the 2022 Asian Games, in a spectacular closing ceremony marred with heavy rain on Sunday that involved dozens of national and international artists.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo was in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, and watched the closing ceremony with victims of last month’s earthquake.
“The [Asian Games] ended today, but the energy of Asia will not fade away. Thank you all nations of Asia. This is the true energy of Asia, which unites us to bring goodness to the world,” he said in a video streaming.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla also took the stage to deliver a few words, thanking all parties involved in the Games.
“Thank you for giving us such a beautiful competition. Thank you for giving us these thrilling moments. And thank you for giving us the strong spirit and energy of fair play. You are the heroes of Asia,” he said.
Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) president sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah expressed his appreciation of Jakarta and Palembang, South Sumatra, for successfully hosting the Games simultaneously.
“Thank you Jakarta, thank you Palembang. You made the Asian dream of ‘Energy of Asia’ come true,” he said.
The passing of the Asian Games baton was made official by the raising of China’s flag, which was followed by a performance of Chinese dancers and singer Jackson Yi of popular group TFboys.
Jack Ma, billionaire co-founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, made a special appearance during the show to invite the audience to Hangzhou, the city where he was born. “Hangzhou is a beautiful city. I will wait for you in Hangzhou in 2022.”
