The men’s basketball competition kicked off at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Thursday, ahead of the official opening ceremony on September 19. In the opening match at Nagoya’s IG Arena, Iran faced Qatar in Group B. Japan, hosting the Asian Games for the first time since 1994, will later compete against Indonesia in Group A.
This year, over 15,000 athletes and officials from 45 nations are participating in the continent-wide event, which is primarily taking place in Nagoya and surrounding cities in Aichi Prefecture until October 4. Additional events will occur in nearby Gifu and Shizuoka Prefectures, as well as in Tokyo and Osaka.
This marks Japan’s third time hosting the Asian Games, previously held in Tokyo in 1958.
