Dragons, Elvis and singing mayor surprise OCA assembly

JAKARTA: Olympic Council for Asia (OCA) delegates could be forgiven for thinking they had wandered into a Jakarta karaoke joint after being subjected to a surprise serenade on Sunday.

The Japanese cities of Nagoya and Aichi will stage the 20th Asian Games in 2026. And during the joint hosts´ report to the OCA general assembly taking place on the sidelines of the 18th Asian Games, Nagoya mayor Takashi Kawamura stunned delegates first with a bizarre request and then a passable Elvis Presley impersonation.

The representatives of 45 Asian countries probably couldn´t quite believe their ears when first Kawamura implored OCA president Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah to help him acquire two of Indonesia´s famous Komodo dragons for his city´s zoo.

Kawamura then tried to drive home his plea by crooning his own version of Elvis´s hit "Can´t Help Falling in Love". Only he changed the lyrics in front of the smiling, but slightly embarrassed, Kuwaiti Sheikh Ahmed to "I can´t help falling in love with Asian people and the Komodo dragon."

It was such a hard act to follow that Sheikh Ahmed quickly called for a coffee break in the day-long meeting of Asia´s top sports administrators at Jakarta´s Mulia Hotel. Earlier the OCA general assembly approved Sanya in China to be the venue of the sixth Asian Beach Games in 2020 and heard progress reports from Asia´s next two Olympics hosts, Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022.