31 years ago today, on October 2, 1994 (August 27, 1994 lunar calendar), the 12th Asian Games opened in Hiroshima. Men's football broke into the final of the Asian Games for the first time. On October 2, 1994, the Asian athletes who gathered again raised the flag of the Asian Games for the 12th time in 43 years. The opening ceremony of the 12th Asian Games held in the Wide Park Stadium lasted nearly four hours. At the opening ceremony, Zhang Baifa, vice chairman of the previous Asian Games Organizing Committee, and others handed over the flag and torch of the Asian Games that had been kept in Beijing since October 1990 to Fahd, president of the Olympic Council of Asia, marking the beginning of a new round of the Asian Games cycle. Due to the continuous development of Asian sports in the past four years, the number of official events of the 12th Asian Games has increased from 27 to 34 in the previous edition, with 7,300 participants, all setting a new record, making the Asian Games the second largest sports event in the world after the Olympic Games. Thanks to the participation of five Central Asian countries, as many as 42 delegations lined up for the opening ceremony today. Under the guidance of the men's basketball player Liu Yudong holding high the five-star red flag, the Chinese sports delegation was the seventh in alphabetical order to enter the stadium and was reviewed. As the best performers in three consecutive Asian Games, they were very warmly welcomed. In the next 15 days, they are determined to work with competitors from other countries and regions to recreate glory and jointly promote the faster development of Asian sports with full fighting spirit and good style. Accompanied by Hiroyuki Furuhashi, chairperson of the current Asian Games Organizing Committee, Fahd boarded the podium in front of the athletes' queue to give an opening speech: "Young people who are responsible for the future of Asia have gathered in Hiroshima, an international and cultural city, hoping to further care for peace through sports exchanges, enhance friendly relations between Asian countries and regions, and make their own contributions to the realization of permanent world peace. After Emperor Akihito of Japan announced the opening of the 12th Asian Games, track and field players Tomitsuzawa and women's basketball players born in the host city ran into the stadium from two entrances, holding torches. They combined the "Asian Fire" from Beijing with the "Fire of Peace" lit locally and lit the main torch of the Asian Games. Wu Shaozu, President of the Chinese Olympic Committee, He Zhenliang, Honorary President, and Xu Yinsheng, newly elected Vice President of the Olympic Council of Asia, also attended the opening ceremony and took their seats on the podium and VIP seats respectively. Li Tong (left) won the men's 110-meter hurdles championship at the 12th Asian Games