COMMONWEALTH GAMES

After Olympics, Commonwealth Games is the second largest sports festival in the world. The Games are held once in four years but only in between the Olympic years. The Games were originally known as the British Empire Games. The first Commonwealth Games were held in 1930 at Hamilton, Canada. The 10th Commonwealth Games were held at Christchurch, New Zealand in 1974, the 11th in Edmonton (Canada) in 1978, the 12th in Brisbane (Australia) in 1982, the 13th in Edinburgh (Scotland) in 1986, the 14th in Auckland (New Zealand) in 1990 and the 15th in Victoria (Canada) in 1994, where about 3,350 athletes from a record 64 nations (including South Africa, which joined the family of Commonwealth athletes after 36 years) participated. Namibia also, which gained its independence in 1990, made its debut while Hong Kong made its final appearance in the Games before being ceded to China in 1997.

S. No	Venue	Year	No of Countries
1	Hamilton, Canada	1930	11
2	London, United Kingdom	1934	16
3	Sydney, Australia	1938	15
4	Auckland, New Zealand	1950	12
5	Vancouver, Canada	1954	24
6	Cardiff, United Kingdom	1958	35
7	Perth, Australia	1962	35
8	Jamaica, West Indies	1966	34
9	Edinburgh, United Kingdom	1970	42
10	Christchurch, New Zealand	1974	38
11	Edmonton, Canada	1978	48
12	Brisbane, Australia	1982	47
13	Edinburgh, United Kingdom	1986	26
14	Auckland, New Zealand	1990	55
15	Victoria, Canada	1994	64
16	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	1998	70
17	Manchchester, United Kingdom	2002	72
18	Melbourne, Australia	2006
19	New Delhi, India	2010

ASIAN GAMES

India played a leading role to organise sports festival for Asian countries on Olympic lines. 'Ever Onward' is the motto of the Asian Games and 'a bright full rising sun with interlocking rings' is its emblem. The first Asian Games were held at New Delhi in 1951 followed by Manila, Philippines (1954); Tokyo, Japan (1958); Jakarta, Indonesia (1962); Bangkok, Thailand (1966, 1970, 1978 & 1998); Teheran, Iran (1974); New Delhi, India (1982); Seoul, South Korea (1986); Beijing, China (1990); Hiroshima, Japan (1994); Bangkok, Thailand (1998); Busan, South Korea (2002); Doha, Qatar (2006). The next editions of the Games is scheduled to be held in and Guangzhou, China (2010).

SAP GAMES

The South Asian Federation Games (SAP Games) is a sport festival of South Asian countries. The South Asian Sports Federation comprising India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives was formed in New Delhi in November, 1982. The first SAP Games were held in Kathmandu in 1984 followed by Dhaka (1985), Kolkata (1987), Islamabad (1989), Colombo (1991), Dhaka (1993) and Chennai (1995). The Eighth SAF Games (September 25-Octobcr 4, 1999) were held in Kathmandu. Three new events—badminton, rowing and karate were introduced for the first time in the 9th SAP Games. 

New Name For SAF Games: The SAP Games have been rechristencd as South Asian Games, according to a decision taken by the South Asian Sports Federation at its 32nd meeting held in Islamabad (Pakistan) on April 2, 2004.

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Haider Ajaz