ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider All systems go as Sanya host returning Asian Beach Games this April

All systems go as Sanya host returning Asian Beach Games this April

Published Jan 22, 2026 01:56 pm

At A Glance

  • The Asian Beach Games (ABG) are back this summer after a 10-year hiatus with host Sanya putting the same premium on sports tourism—the very same campaign that's being advocated by both the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).
Journalists are taken to a tour of the Tianya Haijiao Ring Theater which will be the venue of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 6th Sanya Asian Beach Games. (POC Photo)
Journalists are taken to a tour of the Tianya Haijiao Ring Theater which will be the venue of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 6th Sanya Asian Beach Games. (POC Photo)
The Asian Beach Games (ABG) are back this summer after a 10-year hiatus with host Sanya putting the same premium on sports tourism—the very same campaign that’s being advocated by both the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).
The games—hosted by the popular resort city situated in south China’s Hainan province—programmed 15 disciplines with a total of 63 gold medals in 14 sports set from April 22 to 30.
“It’s not only all about sports but also promoting the host city,” said POC president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino. “We’ve been advocating already on sports tourism that’s why the POC and the PSC are encouraging our country’s very own hosting of international competitions.”
Tolentino said the POC is fielding 180 athletes who will compete in 3x3 basketball, open water swimming and water polo, aquathlon, beach athletics, beach handball, beach kabaddi, beach soccer, beach volleyball, beach wrestling, dragon boat, jiu-jitsu, sailing, sport climbing and teqball in Sanya.
Sanya indicated its preparedness to host the sixth edition of the games—last hosted by Danang in Vietnam in 2016—through the World Press Briefing and World Broadcasters Meeting earlier this week.
Journalists representing traditional and new media from Asia and Southeast Asia as well as from Europe attended the briefing conducted at the proposed site of the Main Press Center and Media Hotel at Jianghe Hotel and Resort.
Top officials of the Sanya ABG Organizing Committee presented the program for the games that has the full support of the Olympic Council of Asia.
The briefing included an ocular of the field of play for beach handball, sport climbing and beach volleyball as well as the Yasha Park Phase 1 Ring Theater which will be the venue for the opening and closing ceremony.
Alongside the venue visit was a tour of the island’s top tourist attractions, including the iconic Luhuitou Scenic Spot and the Xidao Island Fishing Village.
The 45 national Olympic committees of the OCA are expected to send their athletes to the games, while Australia, Salomon Island, Tahiti and New Zealand were invited to send their athletes.
The 5th Asian Beach Games organizing committee is composed of the Peoples Government of Sanya City and Hainan Province and their Tourism, Culture, Television, Radio and Sports departments, and the Chinese Olympic Committee and the General Administration of Sports of China.
End it…end it
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.