Organizers promise frugal EAG

TIANJIN - With just one day to go before the opening ceremony of the East Asian Games (EAG), organizers announced Saturday they were ready to stage a joy-sharing and splendid sports gala in the harbor city of Tianjin.

"The registering work of athletes has been all finished. A total of 2422 athletes, including 1366 male and 1056 female athletes from nine countries and regions will be competing in 24 sports, 254 events," said Xie Delong, vice director of the Executive Board of the Organizing Committee.

"All the 23 competition venues and the three soccer training pitches are ready for the opening of the Games, and we have already successfully hosted 21 test events prior to the Games," he added.

The 6th EAG is the first major multi-sports meet to be held in Tianjin, a municipality in north China. With the slogan of "share happiness, create splendor", the organizers are trying their best to make the Games a carnival for all the citizens.

"The price for more than 85 percent of the tickets are below 100 yuan (some 16 dollars), and in some competitions, tickets will be free to the public," said Wang Jinsheng, deputy secretary-general of the Organizing Committee.

"We also have selected 6,800 volunteers from all the 80,000 college students in Tianjin, including 6,200 competition volunteers and 600 city volunteers, to serve the Games, giving them an opportunity to share the joy and happiness to be part of the EAG."

The quadrennial regional sporting extravaganza will witness a frugal but splendid opening ceremony in the Tianjin Olympic Center Gymnasium on Sunday evening, as the organizers are aiming to host an economical, environment-friendly and efficient EAG.

The opening ceremony will feature some 1,500 performers, most of whom are local college and high school students, but without singing stars or firework shows as a gesture of the organizers to cut down spending.

After the opening ceremony and nine days of competitions, the 6th EAG will conclude on October 15.

The East Asian Games is a multi-sport event organized by the East Asian Games Association (EAGA) and held every four years since 1993. The participating delegations are the eight East Asian countries and regions of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), namely China, Japan, South Korea, DPR Korea, Mongalia, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, China as well as Macao, China. The Pacific island of Guam, which is a member of the Oceania National Olympic Committees, also participated in the EAG.