Two new sports to be introduced at the 2023 Asian Games

The 2023 Asian Games are approaching fast, and there will be a total of 40 sports featured at the event. Of these 40 sports, e-sports and breaking are the new additions to the games. So far the Asiad has seen players participating in 54 unique sports, and this addition will take the number to 56.

Breaking, also commonly known as breakdancing, has risen to fame recently, with the sport even booking a spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Breaking will be present at the Asian Games under the category of Dance Sport and will feature two events - men's breaking and women's breaking.

While competition will be tough, dancers Wing of South Korea and Shang Xiaoyu of China are expected to battle it out for the first ever men's breakdancing gold at Hangzhou. Kim Hong-yul and Qi Xiangyu are two other players in the running for the men's event podium.

Meanwhile, Japanese Fukushima and Ami Yuasa will be gunning for gold in the women's category. They are likely to be joined on the podium by South Korean Jeon Jiye or China's Liu Qingyi.

E-sports, the other event set to debut at the Hangzhou Games, was previously played as a demonstration sport at the 2018 Jakarta games. There will be 7 medals up for grabs in the e-sports category - League of Legends, Arena of Valor (Asian Games Version), Game for Peace (Asian Games Version), Dota 2, Dream Three Kingdoms 2, Street Fighter V: Champion Edition and FIFA Online 4.

India will be participating in four out of the seven events, Dota 2, FIFA Online 4, League of Legends and Street Fighter V: Champion Edition. India's best shot of a medal will be the FIFA Online 4, as the team is ranked 3rd in Asia.

Cricket and chess to stage Asian Games comeback

Alongside the two new additions that fans will get to see at the Hangzhou Games, cricket and chess will also be making a comeback to the event.

Cricket has been a part of the Asiad twice before. Pakistan took the gold in the women's event both times, while Bangladesh and Sri Lanka took the win in the men's event in 2010 and 2014 respectively. This will be India's first time participating in cricket at the Asian Games.

Chess has also been featured twice at the games. So far, India has won four medals in the event, with two golds and two bronze medals. The Indian chess contingent will have high expectations for themselves this time around as well.