2006 South Asian Games

X South Asian Games

Host city	Colombo, Sri Lanka
Nations participating	8
Athletes participating	1554
Events	197 in 20 Sports
Opening ceremony	2006 August 18
Closing ceremony	2006 August 28
Officially opened by	Mahinda Rajapaksa
Main venue	Sugathadasa Stadium
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The 2006 South Asian Games (also known as 2006 SAF Games or 10th SAF Games) were held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from August 18 to August 28, 2006 in the Sugathadasa Stadium with more than 2000 sportspersons competing in the record 20 disciplines of Sports.

The 10th edition of SAF Games also marked the debut for Afghanistan.^[1] Another highlight of 2006 SAF Games was unprecedented high levels of security for officials & players amid violent clashes between the Sri Lankan Government’s troops and LTTE.^[2] Earlier in 2005, the Games, originally scheduled to be held in 2005, had been postponed after a tsunami wave devastated the region.^[3]

Mascots

Pora-Pol (an ancient sport of coconut fighting) and Wali kukula (a jungle fowl) were chosen as the official logo and mascot for the 2006 SAF Games, respectively. However they drew some criticism for the lack of creativity particularly in the case of mascot.

Sports

The 2006 South Asian Games encompassed a record 20 disciplines with hockey being reintroduced after several years.

Archery (4) () Athletics (35) () Badminton (5) () Boxing (11) () Cycling (6) () Field hockey (1) () Football (1) ()

Judo (11) () Kabbadi (2) () Karate (14) () Rowing (7) () Shooting (10) () Squash (4) () Swimming (38) ()

Table tennis (7) () Taekwondo (16) () Volleyball (2) () Weightlifting (8) () Wrestling (8) () Wushu (6) ()

Participating nations

athletes from eight countries competed at 2006 South Asian Games.^[4]

•  Afghanistan (86)
•  Bangladesh (192)
•  Bhutan (54)
•  India (293)
•  Maldives (59)
•    Nepal (216)
•  Pakistan (288)
•  Sri Lanka (366)

Medal table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	India (IND)	118	59	37	214
2	Pakistan (PAK)	46	71	67	184
3	Sri Lanka (SRI)	37	63	78	178
4	Nepal (NEP)	15	14	31	60
5	Afghanistan (AFG)	6	7	18	31
6	Bangladesh (BAN)	3	15	32	50
7	Bhutan (BHU)	0	3	10	13
8	Maldives (MDV)	0	0	0	0
Total		225	232	273	730

Schedule

OC

Opening ceremony

●

Event competitions

1

Event finals

CC

Closing ceremony

August		14th Mon	15th Tue	16th Wed	17th Thu	18th Fri	19th Sat	20th Sun	21st Mon	22nd Tue	23rd Wed	24th Thu	25th Fri	26th Sat	27th Sun	28th Mon	Events
Ceremonies						OC										CC
Archery												●	2	2			4
Athletics												10	14	10	1		35
Badminton				●	●	5	●	●		2							7
Boxing							●	●	●	11							11
Cycling									2		2			2			6
Field hockey									●	●	●		1				1
Football		●		●			●		●		●	●		1			1
Judo														6	5		11
Kabbadi							●	●	●	●	●	●	●	2			2
Karate											4	2	2	3		3	14
Rowing							4		3								7
Shooting								2	4	6	2	6	4	2			26
Squash							●	●	2		●	●	●	2			4
Swimming							7	7	7	8	9						38
Table tennis						●	●	2	2	1	2			2			7
Taekwondo													5	5	3		13
Volleyball											●	●	●	2			2
Weightlifting							2	2	2	2							8
Wrestling													4	3			7
Wushu							●	●	●	12							6
Total events						5	13	13	22	42	19	18	32	42	9	3	218
Cumulative total						5	18	31	53	95	114	132	164	206	215	218
August		14th Mon	15th Tue	16th Wed	17th Thu	18th Fri	19th Sat	20th Sun	21st Mon	22nd Tue	23rd Wed	24th Thu	25th Fri	26th Sat	27th Sun	28th Mon	Events

Highlights

• Nagalingm Edirith Weeresinghe and Sriyani Kulawansa (both former Sri Lankan athletes) lit the Games torch at the opening ceremony.
• India made a clean sweep at Archery, Badminton, Rowing, Wushu.
• The women’s Kabaddi event was introduced.
• Maldives failed to claim any medal for the second consecutive time.
• Sri Lanka Swimmer Mayumi Raheem wins 10 medals (3 Gold, 4 silver, 3 bronze) a record for any athlete at a single games

Doping

The 10th SAF games couldn’t be freed from infamous trend of steroid-using by athletes to boost their performance, as a group of athletes were reportedly tested positive for the use of banned performance-enhancing substance. Prominent athletes alleged to test positive included Nepal’s double gold-medalist Rajendra Bhandari, Pakistani boxers Nauman Karim & Mohammed Lassi and Sri Lanka’s Jani Chathurangani Silva.^[5] An Indian athlete was also said to have failed a dope test.^[6]

References

1. COLOMBO 2006
2. "Colombo shifts focus to SAF Games". The Times of India. August 17, 2006.
3. South Asian Games Postponed. The Hindu. January 07 2005.
4. Competing countries
5. "Nepalese gold medalist among four South Asian Games athletes tested positive for drugs".International Herald Tribune. September 23, 2006.
6. "India returns positive dope tests from South Asian Games". The Hindu. September 21, 2006. Accessed 2009-05-30. Archived 2009-06-01.

External links

• Info. About 2006 SAF Games
• Pictures of opening ceremony
• Pictures from 2006 SAIF GAMES