The 2014 Incheon Asian Games, currently on day four of its 15-day run, are being participated in by more than 9,000 athletes from 45 Asian countries and territories. The athletes from all across Asia are competing in 36 sports and vying for over 1,300 medals. Among them are a number of countries that aim for their historic first medal in these games, including Bhutan, East Timor and the Maldives.


Bhutan, a country with a population of just over 730,000, located in the Himalaya Mountains between India and China, dreams of its first medal in the Asian Games. This is their seventh time to participate in the Asian Games, since their first appearance in Beijing in 1990. This year, Bhutan deployed a total of 16 athletes to compete in boxing, archery, golf, shooting, taekwondo and tennis.

Bhutan has especially high hopes for boxer Sigyel Phub. Phub ranked fifth in the bantamweight class during the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, the country's highest placement ever. Phub achieved his results under the guidance of manager Kim Jae-hyu from Korea. Kim has been training the Bhutanese men's national boxing team since 2009, as part of the Vision 2014 Project, an aid project by the Incheon games organizers to support nations weaker in some sports. The athletes have shown great development in terms of their capability since the project's launch. Many eyes are focusing on whether Phub can get a better result this time. The boxing preliminaries begin on September 24 at the Seonhak Gymnasium.



The Maldives and East Timor also have a not-too-long history in the Asian Games. This is the seventh Asiad for the Maldives and the fourth for East Timor.

This year, the Maldives deployed 143 athletes in swimming, athletics, badminton, basketball, cricket and football. The team has almost 60 more athletes this year than it fielded in Guangzhou for the 2010 Asian Games. With the increased number of athletes, the Maldives is hoping to win its first medal.

Meanwhile, East Timor has sent 31 athletes this year to compete in athletics, boxing, cycling, football and karate. East Timor gained independence from Indonesia in 2002, and has participated in major international sporting events since then, but has yet to achieve any medal success.

By Lee Seung-ah
Korea.net Staff Writer
slee27@korea.kr