The Asian Games 2018 kicks off with a spectacular opening ceremony that will be held on Saturday (August 18) at the Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) main stadium in Jakarta. The Asian Games opening ceremony will feature renowned Indonesian singers, such as Anggun, who is already internationally recognised, Raisa, Tulus, Edo Kondologit, Putri Ayu, Fatin, GAC, Kamasean and Via Vallen. The ceremony stage -- with features of 120-metre length, 30-metre width and 26-metre height -- will showcase a towering mountain as its background, accompanied by plants and flowers unique to Indonesia. Commonwealth Games gold medallist Neeraj Chopra will be India's flag-bearer in the opening ceremony. The Indian sports ministry has cleared an 804-member Indian contingent, including 572 athletes, for the Asian Games. The sporting extravaganza will see around 10,000 athletes from 45 countries compete in 58 games.
Live Updates of 2018 Asian Games Opening Ceremony, straight from Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta
16:41 IST: India's batting legend Sachin Tendulkar has urged everyone to come out abd support the Indian team.
The #AsianGames2018 are here. The best way we can support our athletes representing India is to watch them do what they do best. Let's show them our true mettle and with pride bring home some metal, guys!
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) August 18, 2018
16:35 IST: Hello and welcome to the live updates of the 2018 Asian Games opening ceremony.
The stage has been built manually by artists from Bandung and Jakarta and will witness around 4,000 dancers who will perform on dance choreographed by Denny Malik and Eko Supriyanto. The dancers are expected to perform "an energetic and elegant show" with the presence of an orchestra that will feature at least a hundred musicians with its two conductors Addie MS and Ronald Steven, who are well recognised amid Indonesian music culture. The main Gelora Bung Karno stadium will be transformed into a verdant mountain, organisers say, and Indonesian celebrity singer Anggun Cipta Sasmi will take to the stage.
Around 50,000 people are expected inside the stadium, Games organising committee INASGOC said Saturday, adding that tickets -- which range in price from to $50-$350 -- had sold out. Indonesian Gunawan Tri Wasisto, who works in finance, said tickets were costly but worth it.
