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Torch heads for Busan

NEW DELHI SEPT. 5. Legendary high-hurdler Gurbachan Singh Randhawa and Olympic bronze medallist Karnam Malleswari launched a torch relay at the National Stadium, marking the countdown for the 14th Asian Games to be held in Busan, South Korea.

The torch was lit with the flames of two torches, one of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and the other of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), before it was carried by renowned sportspersons over a 10 km route through the capital.

The ceremony was part of the initiative drafted by the OCA to display Asian solidarity in the new millennium. Similar rituals were carried out in all the 42 Asian countries on Thursday, at an appointed time _ 10.30 a.m.

The torch lightning ceremony, as a countdown for the Asian Games, was to be held at a historic site in the respective countries. India chose the National Stadium, the venue of the inaugural 1951 Asian Games. Also, at this arena, the sacred flame of the OCA was lit and enshrined in December 1997.

It was just a 30-minute ceremony preceded by a small cultural programme presented by the students of two schools, Government Girls Senior Secondary School No. 3, Nazafgarh and Shanti Gyan Niketan, Nazafgarh.

This was followed by the main ceremony, wherein the Lt. Governor Vijai Kapoor received the Busan Asiad torch. The OCA was represented by its Secretary-General Randhir Singh and the IOA by its President Suresh Kalmadi.

The Asiad torch was then handed over to Randhawa who passed it on to Malleswari. The two carried the torch down the podium and then led a group of 20 Arjuna Awardees for the relay. Those who took part in the relay included Sriram Singh, Bhuvneshwari Kumari, Manjit Dua, Ashok Kumar, Raj Kumar Sangwan, Satish Kumar, Cdr. P.K. Garg and Zafar Iqbal.

The torch will be kept here till September 22 before its flame is encased in a pocket warmer and taken to Busan by the Chef de Mission of the Indian contingent, Jagdish Tytler.

— By Our Sports Reporter

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