Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it has won a bid to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games at a planned mountain resort in the Gulf Arab state's $500 billion flagship NEOM project. The TROJENA development is expected to be completed in 2026 and will offer outdoor skiing, a man-made freshwater lake and a nature reserve, according to the project's website.

"With the unlimited support by the Saudi leadership &amp; HRH Crown Prince to the sport sector we are proud to announce we have won the bid to host AWG TROJENA2029 as the first country in west Asia," Sports Minister Prince Abdulaziz Bin Turki Al-Faisal said on Twitter. NEOM is Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's most ambitious project under the kingdom's Vision 2030 development plan to reduce reliance on oil and transform the economy, including by developing sports.

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NEOM, a 26,500-square-km (10,230-square-mile) high-tech development on the Red Sea, will include zero-carbon city "The Line" as well as industrial and logistics areas.

Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it has won a bid to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games at a planned mountain resort in the Gulf Arab state's $500 billion flagship NEOM project.

Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it has won a bid to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games at a planned mountain resort in the Gulf Arab state's $500 billion flagship NEOM project. The TROJENA development is expected to be completed in 2026 and will offer outdoor skiing, a man-made freshwater lake and a nature reserve, according to the project's website. "With the unlimited support by the Saudi leadership & HRH Crown Prince to the sport sector we are proud to announce we have won the bid to host AWG TROJENA2029 as the first country in west Asia," Sports Minister Prince Abdulaziz Bin Turki Al-Faisal said on Twitter. NEOM is Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's most ambitious project under the kingdom's Vision 2030 development plan to reduce reliance on oil and transform the economy, including by developing sports. ALSO READ | Sydney United 58 fans condemned for Nazi-style salute and song NEOM, a 26,500-square-km (10,230-square-mile) high-tech development on the Red Sea, will include zero-carbon city "The Line" as well as industrial and logistics areas.

Saudi Arabia wins bid to host 2029 Asian Winter Games

Japan will be hosting&nbsp;the 2017 Asian Winter Games (AWG), in the cities of Sapporo and Obihiro, starting Sunday. The Winter Games will run through February 26.&nbsp;

AWG is an international multi-sport event run by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) to develop winter sports within its area of coverage. According to the official website, the OCA has 45 member countries.This year, the 8th Asian Winter Games is expected to attract more than 2,000 athletes from 31 countries, competing in five sports, 11 disciplines and 64 events.

With the Winter Games, just a year away from the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchan,&nbsp;it is expected to offer a great stage for athletes to rehearse. Pyeongchang will stage Asia&#39;s first Winter Games outside Japan next year. This will kick-start a cycle of events in Asia with Tokyo hosting the 2020 Summer Games and Beijing the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Keeping with the sportsman spirit, the Japanese government is allowing the North Korean athletes&nbsp;to enter the country to take part in the Games despite Japan&#39;s entry ban on North Korean citizens, as reported in AP.&nbsp;Tokyo will treat the athletes as an exception to its punitive measure taken as part of its sanctions in response to Pyongyang&#39;s nuclear tests and rocket launches.&nbsp;

The Sapporo Games will also feature athletes from Australia and New Zealand.&nbsp;At the request of the Australian Olympic Committee, the Olympic Council of Asia and the Sapporo 2017 organizing committee agreed to allow athletes from the two countries to take part as &#39;guest athletes&#39; in individual sports only, according to AP. However, they won&#39;t be eligible to compete for medals.

The 8th Sapporo Asian Winter Games Organising Committee (SAWGOC) looks to enhance tourism, economic stimulation and greater interest in winter sports in the region.&nbsp;

At present, Republic of Korea leads the medal tally with 14 medals, Japan and China follow with 12 and 9 medals respectively.&nbsp;

(WION) 
&nbsp;

Some 2000 athletes from 31 countries will be competing in five sports across 64 events in Japan

Japan will be hosting the 2017 Asian Winter Games (AWG), in the cities of Sapporo and Obihiro, starting Sunday. The Winter Games will run through February 26. AWG is an international multi-sport event run by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) to develop winter sports within its area of coverage. According to the official website, the OCA has 45 member countries.This year, the 8th Asian Winter Games is expected to attract more than 2,000 athletes from 31 countries, competing in five sports, 11 disciplines and 64 events. With the Winter Games, just a year away from the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchan, it is expected to offer a great stage for athletes to rehearse. Pyeongchang will stage Asia's first Winter Games outside Japan next year. This will kick-start a cycle of events in Asia with Tokyo hosting the 2020 Summer Games and Beijing the 2022 Winter Olympics. Keeping with the sportsman spirit, the Japanese government is allowing the North Korean athletes to enter the country to take part in the Games despite Japan's entry ban on North Korean citizens, as reported in AP. Tokyo will treat the athletes as an exception to its punitive measure taken as part of its sanctions in response to Pyongyang's nuclear tests and rocket launches. The Sapporo Games will also feature athletes from Australia and New Zealand. At the request of the Australian Olympic Committee, the Olympic Council of Asia and the Sapporo 2017 organizing committee agreed to allow athletes from the two countries to take part as 'guest athletes' in individual sports only, according to AP. However, they won't be eligible to compete for medals. The 8th Sapporo Asian Winter Games Organising Committee (SAWGOC) looks to enhance tourism, economic stimulation and greater interest in winter sports in the region. At present, Republic of Korea leads the medal tally with 14 medals, Japan and China follow with 12 and 9 medals respectively. (WION)

Japan to host Asian Winter Games

They come from a tropical country better known for palm-fringed beaches and big-wave surfing than winter sports.

But Indonesia&#39;s plucky ice hockey team hopes to defy the odds when they skate into a major international tournament for the first time at the Asian Winter Games in Sapporo next week.

The players are part of the first contingent of Indonesian athletes ever to participate in the games, with the South-east Asian nation also sending figure skaters and short-track speed skaters to compete in Japan.

For the part-timers in Indonesia&#39;s ice hockey team -- whose story has echoes of the Jamaican bobsledders of the 1988 Winter Olympics, whose story was turned into the hit comedy movie &quot;Cool Runnings&quot; -- it will be their toughest challenge yet.

&quot;This is the first time ever they&#39;ve played in a real, international competition,&quot; said coach Gary Tan, after a vigorous training session at one of the country&#39;s three rinks, on the outskirts of Jakarta.

&quot;It&#39;s going to be a very tough task -- but it&#39;s not going to be impossible.&quot;

Tan, a Malaysian who has been drafted to get the team into shape before the tournament, shouted orders at the players dressed in red and yellow outfits as they skated at high speed, practising tackles and trying to smash the puck into the net.

They huddled on the ice at the end of the session, as Tan gave them pointers.

Pucked from obscurity

The rough and tumble of ice hockey is a change for many of the players who are not paid to be on the national team and must earn their living in day jobs ranging from office workers to start-up entrepreneurs.

Indonesia is sending a 23-man squad -- 20 players and three goalkeepers -- to the Games, many of whom have played in club tournaments abroad. &nbsp;

But they will face more experienced opponents in their group at the Games, which will welcome some 2,300 athletes and supporters from more than 30 countries between February 19-26, including Iran, Malaysia and Macau.

&quot;Obviously we are the underdogs,&quot; conceded team member Felix Utama, a 26-year-old whose day job is in the IT industry.

Even getting a hockey team together to practice regularly is a challenge in Jakarta, a chaotic, sprawling metropolis whose sprawl takes in some 28 million people.

The players need to travel up to two hours through the city&#39;s notorious gridlock to get to the rink in South Tangerang, a commuter city outside the capital. Most only make it to half of the practice sessions.

Ice hockey is an unlikely sport for anyone to play in the sprawling archipelago, which lies in the tropics and where the mercury rarely drops below 25 Celsius (77 Fahrenheit).

Olympic dreams

Tan said a major challenge for promoting ice hockey in Indonesia was that the sport was not ingrained in the national culture like it is in colder countries.

&quot;The biggest thing is the mindset, the culture,&quot; he said.

&quot;If you are brought up in a hockey culture, a winter country, then it is completely different because everybody eats and sleeps hockey.&quot;

Nevertheless, the fast-paced sport has won a small but dedicated following as a more exciting alternative to disciplines where the country has traditionally done well internationally, such as badminton and weightlifting.

Tan hopes the upcoming tournament can prepare the players for a more modest goal: the smaller South-east Asian Games in Malaysia in August.

But the Indonesian government is more ambitious&nbsp;and envisages one day sending an ice hockey team to the Olympics.

&quot;If they perform very well, probably we would like to take part in the next Winter Olympic Games,&quot; said sports ministry spokesman Gatot Dewa Broto.

And while the chances of a giant-killing seem remote, Indonesia&#39;s players believe they have a chance of pulling off a surprise in Japan.

&quot;We are going to show you what we&#39;ve got,&quot; said assistant coach Andianto Hie, 30, in a message to those who may doubt his team&#39;s ability.

(AFP)

The country's ice hockey team will be at the Asian Winter Games next week. It will their first time at a major international tournament

They come from a tropical country better known for palm-fringed beaches and big-wave surfing than winter sports. But Indonesia's plucky ice hockey team hopes to defy the odds when they skate into a major international tournament for the first time at the Asian Winter Games in Sapporo next week. The players are part of the first contingent of Indonesian athletes ever to participate in the games, with the South-east Asian nation also sending figure skaters and short-track speed skaters to compete in Japan. For the part-timers in Indonesia's ice hockey team -- whose story has echoes of the Jamaican bobsledders of the 1988 Winter Olympics, whose story was turned into the hit comedy movie "Cool Runnings" -- it will be their toughest challenge yet. "This is the first time ever they've played in a real, international competition," said coach Gary Tan, after a vigorous training session at one of the country's three rinks, on the outskirts of Jakarta. "It's going to be a very tough task -- but it's not going to be impossible." Tan, a Malaysian who has been drafted to get the team into shape before the tournament, shouted orders at the players dressed in red and yellow outfits as they skated at high speed, practising tackles and trying to smash the puck into the net. They huddled on the ice at the end of the session, as Tan gave them pointers. Pucked from obscurity The rough and tumble of ice hockey is a change for many of the players who are not paid to be on the national team and must earn their living in day jobs ranging from office workers to start-up entrepreneurs. Indonesia is sending a 23-man squad -- 20 players and three goalkeepers -- to the Games, many of whom have played in club tournaments abroad. But they will face more experienced opponents in their group at the Games, which will welcome some 2,300 athletes and supporters from more than 30 countries between February 19-26, including Iran, Malaysia and Macau. "Obviously we are the underdogs," conceded team member Felix Utama, a 26-year-old whose day job is in the IT industry. Even getting a hockey team together to practice regularly is a challenge in Jakarta, a chaotic, sprawling metropolis whose sprawl takes in some 28 million people. The players need to travel up to two hours through the city's notorious gridlock to get to the rink in South Tangerang, a commuter city outside the capital. Most only make it to half of the practice sessions. Ice hockey is an unlikely sport for anyone to play in the sprawling archipelago, which lies in the tropics and where the mercury rarely drops below 25 Celsius (77 Fahrenheit). Olympic dreams Tan said a major challenge for promoting ice hockey in Indonesia was that the sport was not ingrained in the national culture like it is in colder countries. "The biggest thing is the mindset, the culture," he said. "If you are brought up in a hockey culture, a winter country, then it is completely different because everybody eats and sleeps hockey." Nevertheless, the fast-paced sport has won a small but dedicated following as a more exciting alternative to disciplines where the country has traditionally done well internationally, such as badminton and weightlifting. Tan hopes the upcoming tournament can prepare the players for a more modest goal: the smaller South-east Asian Games in Malaysia in August. But the Indonesian government is more ambitious and envisages one day sending an ice hockey team to the Olympics. "If they perform very well, probably we would like to take part in the next Winter Olympic Games," said sports ministry spokesman Gatot Dewa Broto. And while the chances of a giant-killing seem remote, Indonesia's players believe they have a chance of pulling off a surprise in Japan. "We are going to show you what we've got," said assistant coach Andianto Hie, 30, in a message to those who may doubt his team's ability. (AFP)

Cool Runnings too? Tropical Indonesia makes ice hockey bid