Asian Games 2023 closing ceremony: Bye-bye Hangzhou, welcome Nagoya

After over two weeks of top-notch sporting action, the curtains came down on the Asian Games 2023 with a grand closing ceremony at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium in the People’s Republic of China on Sunday.

PR Sreejesh, the veteran goal-keeper of the Indian men’s hockey team that won the gold medal in Hangzhou, was India's flag-bearer.

India’s record tally of 107 medals including 28 gold, 38 silver and 41 bronze, was their best showing in Asian Games history. China dominated the medal tally with 383 medals (201 gold), ahead of Japan (188 medals, 52 gold) and the Republic of Korea (190 medals, 42 gold).

The Asian Games 2023 closing ceremony began with the entry of 45 flag-bearers waving their national colours in front of a packed stadium of 80,000 spectators.

It was followed by a cultural ceremony on the theme of ‘Enduring Memories of Hangzhou’, a classic line from a Chinese poem about the host city. 

The Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium, also known as the Big Lotus, had its floor transformed into a screen with thousands of luminous points. 

An aesthetic cultural performance pulled off by over 2000 artists was followed by special moments of the Asian Games 2023 being revisited on the screens. 

Neeraj Chopra's gold medal-winning moment and the Indian men’s 4x400m relay team also featured in the highlight reel.

After the end of the performance, Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) acting chief Randhir Singh declared the Asian Games 2023 closed.

The Asian Games torch and the OCA flag were then handed to the officials from Japan's Nagoya-Aichi, the host city of the 2026 Asian Games.

The Asian Games 2023 closing ceremony lasted around 75 minutes. The events officially closed with the giant digital torch flame being extinguished and disappearing into the night sky. No fireworks were used during the ceremony.