ABG 2010 Torch Handed To Muscat Organizers In Bali

Denpasar (Antara Bali) - A torch carrying the flame to ignite a cauldron marking the opening of the 2010 Asian Beach Games (ABG)) in Muscat, Oman, next December 8, was handed to a delegation of the event's Omani organizers at a ceremony here Saturday.

Indonesian Youth and Sports Minister Andi Malarangeng presented the torch - lighted at an eternal fire source at Mrapen hamlet in Central Java - to two representatives of the Muscat ABG Organizing Committee, Mohamed Al Fairuz and Said Al Asmi, who would transport it further to their country.

The ceremony took place in the compound of  Bali Governor I Made Mangku Pastika's official residence in the presence also of Indonesian Sports Council (KONI) chairWoman  Rita Soebowo, Bali Governor I Made Mangku Pastika,  KONI Bali chapter chairman Made Nariana and a number of invitees.     

After it was lighted at Mrapen, the torch was taken to Bali where it had been kept over the past three days. 

KONI Chairwoman  Rita Soebowo said  the torch's handover to the Muscat ABG Organizing Committee representatives marked a milestone in Indonesian and the ABG's sports history.

Based on a decision taken at an Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) meeting in 2004 in Beijing, China, ABG tournaments that are held on a biennial basis will always be opened with the lighting of a cauldron with a flame from Mrapen regardless of where the games are organized. 

The flame would also always be taken to Bali before being carried to the country hosting the ABG. In other words. Rita, said Mrapen and Bali had become places that would figure every time an ABG tournament was to be held.(*)