Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) president Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah has praised the start of the 18th Asian Games 2018, saying that it was “very encouraging” as it proceeded very well in the co-host cities of Jakarta and Palembang, South Sumatra.

With a record number of 17,000 athletes and officials from 45 national Olympic committees, the spectacular opening ceremony and the participation of a unified Korea team in three sports, Sheikh Ahmad believes the early success can continue right through to the closing ceremony on Sept. 2.

Speaking at the official OCA press conference at the Main Press Center on Monday, Sheikh Ahmad praised the organizers for their hard work over the past three years following the withdrawal of original host Vietnam, and pointed out that the usual preparation time was six years.

“Thanks to this hard work and cooperation between the OCA and the organizing committee we have reached this comfortable situation that will give us the confidence to have a successful Games,” said Sheikh Ahmad.

The OCA president described the media as the second-most important aspect of any Games after the athletes and said the total figure of 11,000 media representatives was another record, and the media had played a big role in the success of the opening ceremony.

“It showed the beauty and identity of Indonesia as an Islamic country and was seen by billions of people all over the world. I believe this is the highest ever in this zone.”

He added: “The start of the Asian Games has been very encouraging with the unity of the society and the victory of Asia to have North and South Korea hand in hand to continue what we started at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan – friendly and as one unit.”

Sheikh Ahmad added that the 13,000 volunteers from 50,000 applications showed the pride and passion of the Indonesian people to get involved in the Asian Games, 56 years after Indonesia last hosted the tournament in 1962 in Jakarta.

Looking ahead, Sheikh Ahmad said the OCA sports calendar was very stable with the next two Asian Games already in place, namely in Hangzhou, China, in 2022 and Nagoya in Japan in 2026, as well as the sixth Asian Beach Games at Sanya, Hainan Island in China in 2020.

“Hangzhou is well prepared and I think they will surprise the world,” he said.