DUSHANBE, October 25, Asia-Plus -- A group of Tajik athletes numbering 22 people have left for Macau, China to participate in the 2nd Asian Indoor Games that will be held there from October 26 to November 3, 2007, Asia-Plus has learned at Tajikistan’s National Olympic Committee (NOC).   

Vamarij Murodov, a spokesman for Tajik NOC, said that the committee places main hopes on sprinter Ajmal Amirov, who was prize winner in many international tournaments.   

As it ad been reported earlier, Tajik track-and-field athletes and futsal players will participate in the 2nd Asian Indoor Games in Macau.  

Most events will take place at the Macao East Asian Games Dome.  A total of 15 sports is scheduled to be competed in this edition of the Indoor Asiad: Aerobic gymnastics; Cue sports; Bowling; Chess sports; Dancesports; Dragon & lion dance; Electronic sports (e-Sports); Extreme sports (x-Sports); Futsal; Hoop Sepaktakraw, Indoor athletics; Indoor cycling; Indoor hockey; Muay; and Sport courseswimming & finswimming.  

Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) raised the idea of Asian Indoor Games in 2001 with the aims to further promote the noble ideals of the Olympic Movement among the Asian people and arouse their interests in sports that are good to their moral and physical qualities. The idea received a consensus on October 3, 2002 at the 21st OCA General Assembly Meeting in Busan. 

As a way to implement the policy of upgrading Macau''s international image and developing local tourism and sport circle by hosting large sport activities, and a way to make good use of the construction legacies from the 4th East Asian Games, the SAR government was determined on August 9, 2002 after detail discussions with the Macau Olympic Committee and the government authority in the field to bid in the OCA for the host right of the Asian Indoor Games. In the 22nd OCA General Assembly Meeting in Kuwait on January 24, 2003, Macau was awarded the host right of the 2nd Asian Indoor Games in 2007, which was further confirmed by the contract signing ceremony on August 20 in the same year.