A unique experience awaits athletes at the Asian Games

The Asian Games begin in Japan in a month’s time, featuring teenage prodigies, more athletes than the Olympics and a cruise ship that will house competitors in the middle of typhoon season.

Concerning 15,000 competitors and officials are anticipated at the event. It takes place in Nagoya and the wider Aichi area from September 19 to October 4.

Organisers hope the athletes will have a “unique experience” staying in accommodation ranging from a cruise liner and wooden containers to standard hotel rooms.

Kazuhiro Yagi, vice-secretary general of the Aichi-Nagoya Games organising committee, said that “it feels like the Games are right around the corner”.

“The final stages of preparation are now upon us,” he noted.

“We will continue working as one right until the last moment and we hope that people from all over Asia, not just Japan, will enjoy the event.”

Organisers have opted for temporary athlete accommodation to cut costs, hiring the Italian cruise ship Costa Serena for the event.

Officials are confident that the plan will not be disrupted by Japan’s typhoon season.

A further 2,000 athletes and office-holders will stay in wooden shipping container-style huts in Nagoya’s Garden Pier area, while the rest will stay in hotels.

Eala will be among the most prominent athletes competing in Nagoya and will be looking to continue her rapid rise.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will also turn heads after announcing himself as a major new talent in world cricket. The teen star will be hoping to win gold for India at Japan’s newly built cricket ground.

Swimmer Yu has also produced a name for herself with her astonishing progress in the pool, setting a new women’s 200m individual medley Asian record last year.

With the Asian Games returning to Japan for the first time since 1994, the organising committee’s Yagi said the atmosphere was “gradually becoming palpable”.