The 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China feature 61 disciplines in 40 sports, with 28 of them being core Olympic sports. As is the norm in every Asiad, there are sports included which aren't exactly mainstream (Pencak silat and Sambo from Jakarta 2018, anyone?). Hangzhou 2022 has its fair share of unique sports, and if you're confused when hearing them uttered the first time, this is your cheat-sheet.
Go
Not an instruction, nor Pokémon Go! but rather the oldest board game in the world, Go (or Weiqi to give it its Chinese name) originated more than 2500 years ago and then spread across Asia.
Featuring a 19x19 grid (361 intersections) across a board, players take turns placing white or black stones at intersection points. A stone is said to be captured/dead when it is surrounded in four cardinal directions by the opposing colour and is lifted off the board. This simple game at first glance turns into a long, complex battle eventually, with the number of possible positions calculated to be 21 followed by 169 (!) zeros, far greater than the number of observable atoms in the universe.
That is 210000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 positions. Try telling a chess engine to compute this.
The game ends when both players are unable/unwilling to make a move, and the one with the greater territory occupied wins. Weiqi made its debut in the 2010 Asian Games, and hasn't featured since, making its second appearance this time around. India haven't sent a contingent, thereby ending all headline writers' attempts to make a 'no Go' pun.
Dragon Boat? Wow
No, it's not a boat trying to escape a dragon, nor even Smaug or Drogon being turned into boats, but a much more mundane (relatively) boat race. It's simple enough - a longboat (which has a decorative dragon head and tail) full of 10 to 50 paddlers that row to the beat of a drum.
The 2023 Asian Games features three distances - 200m, 500m, and 1000m from 4th to 6th October - with the event only having taken place before in 2010 and 2018. Given that it takes place in open water, it's a fairly dangerous sport with 34 deaths across a series of training accidents and races since 2010.
India have not sent a contingent, which is perhaps surprising given its similarity with Vallam kali (snake boat race) in Kerala.
Kurash: Sport or delicious meal?
You're thinking of Goulash. Although given the physical component of Kurash, the loser could very well feel like their body is effectively a soupy goulash by the end. Kurash is a central Asian form of wrestling, with the major difference being holding onto their opponent's jacket, while not grabbing the trousers/legs.
The objective is to throw the opponent to the ground - which is accomplished in multiple ways and thereby scored. Points are scored in three descending orders of magnitude: Halal, Yonbosh and Chala. No, this is still not food.
Scoring a halal ends a bout - and is awarded when throwing the opponent onto their back with full control, force and speed. A slight deviation, such as landing on the side or lack of control is awarded a Yonbosh (two yonboshes make a halal). Chala is the lowest form of a point, but cannot add up to a yonbosh.
Kurash made its debut at the 2018 Asian Games, and India had two medallists (Pincky Balhara silver, Malaprabha Jadhav bronze) in the women's 52 kg division. India were slated to send only two athletes in Kurash this time around, but have increased the contingent to six with Pincky joined by Suchika Tariyal and Jyoti Tokas in the women's division and Yash Kumar Chauhan, Keshav, Vishal Ruhil in the men's division. The event begins on 30th September and concludes after three days.
Sepaktakraw
Quite the mouthful on paper, Sepaktakraw is better understood as kick volleyball, with athletes forced into contorting their bodies in various acrobatic ways to deal with not being allowed to use their hands. Generally involving two teams of three facing each other across a net, Sepaktakraw's explosive nature saw it become an instant hit in the 1990 Asian Games, after which it has featured in every edition.
India earned its first-ever medal in the sport during the 2018 Asian Games, with the men's team (regu) earning a bronze. Five of those medal winners (Niken Singh Khangembam, Malemngamba Sorokhaibam, Henary Wahengbam, Akash Yumnam, Sandeep Kumar) return In the men's team, with India sending a women's team as well amongst a contingent totalling 16 athletes.
What is soft tennis?
Lawn tennis, but with a soft ball.
That's it. That's all there is to it. It is tennis with a soft ball that offers more air resistance, as opposed to the usual hard yellow spherical bullet that Djokovic and co. send speeding across surfaces, while soft tennis has more 'loopy' rallies. The rallies are also longer, and instead of the 'first to six' format that lawn tennis uses, soft tennis uses best of seven (singles) and best of nine (doubles) to determine a winner of a set.
Originating in Japan in 1884, where it was called 'sofututenisu', the sport is quite popular amongst East-Asian nations. It has been an Asian Games staple since 1994, with South Korea the best-performing nation (56 medals in total) in every edition barring the 2006 Doha Games, when Chinese Taipei ruled the roost (they have 34 medals overall).
This will be the third time (2010 and 2018 before) that India will send a soft tennis contingent, although not much is expected in a sport where they've never threatened to win a medal.
Wushu
You probably better know this as Kung-fu, but even that does little to simplify just how many styles this martial arts event encompasses. Everybody was kung-fu fighting, literally.
There's Changquan and Nanquan, two martial arts styles from Northern and Southern China; Taijiquan - more commonly known as Tai chi; Daoshu, Jianshu (swords), Qiangshu (spears), Gunshu (guns). These are usually a combination of gymnastics and martial arts, while Sanda is the category of wushu that's adversarial - with it best described as a combination of wrestling and kickboxing.
Wushu has been an Asian Games sport since the 1990s and India have earned nine medals (eight bronze, one silver), four of which (all bronze) came in the 2018 edition. Roshibina Devi and Surya Bhanu Pratap Singh, bronze winners in 2018, are included in the 11-member contingent India is sending to Hangzhou. They are in action from the 24 - 29 September.
Xiangqi? Xiang que?
Literally translated as representational chess, Xiangqi is a Chinese version of western chess that is quite popular across eastern Asian nations. The major differences between chess and xiangqi is a 9x10 board that has a river running across it (representational, not actual) and a palace restricting movements of a king and advisors.
There is a piece unique to Xiangqi called a pao (cannon) - which has to jump to capture an opponent's piece, but overall it shares many similarities with western chess (the objective is to capture the king, although draws are far less common). Only having featured in the 2010 Asian Games, Xiangqi is making a comeback this year. While India is sending a fairly strong chess contingent, there are no Praggnanandhaas or Gukeshes to root for in Xiangqi, with India sending exactly zero athletes in the sport.