First Asiad

In New Delhi, India's National Sports Club had built a modern, 35,000-spectator stadium with eight entrance tunnels, a pink-tinted cycle track, a cinder track, an arena for field events, a main grass arena for football, hockey and basketball, a swimming pool with a spectator capacity of 5,000. There last week, teams from eleven Asian countries competed in the first Asiad, a program of events patterned after the world Olympics. The countries: Afghanistan, Burma, Ceylon, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Nepal, the Philippines, Singapore, Siam.* Stated purpose of the Asiad: "Maintaining world peace." Another purpose: promoting the Asians-are-different line of India's Nehru and other Asian leaders.

Incense & Salamanders. Red China, which had been invited but did not respond until after the closing date for entries, sent nine "observers," who presented the federation with an engraved enamel incense burner and a red silk banner inscribed: "We wish the first Asian games success and the physical education workers of Asia to unite and strive for peace in Asia and all the world." They gave each team a blue flower vase, a set of Communist magazines called People's Pictorial, pictures of Mao Tse-tung, and on the closing night they gave a huge party. The Japanese, who, along with representatives of the Philippines, Siam and Singapore, absented themselves from the Chinese affairs, brought two salamanders, two badgers and a pair of mandarin ducks for the children of India.

In the games, big, bearded Sikhs and leathery Afghans raced beside short-legged Japanese and lean Iranians. During a tense moment of the football match between Iran and Japan (which Iran won), Iran's bantam weight-lifting champion, Mahmoud Namdjou, leaped on to the dais and did a lively dance.

Namdjou, who bowed his head and prayed towards Mecca before each effort in the weight-lifting events, lost to India's 22-year-old Parimal Roy in the "Mr. Asia of 1951" contest, which was judged on the basis of physical development, looks and personality. Namdjou protested that he had been a finalist in his height class in the "Mr. Universe" competition at the 1948 London Olympics. Stormed Namdjou: "It is not fair competition when a Mr. Universe finalist cannot be Mr. Asia. It is politics."

The Japanese were the only athletes who accepted all the judges' decisions without question. Once, when a Japanese basketball player lost his temper, his coach quickly took him out of the game.

Friends Won & Influenced. Although handicapped by not having entered swimming teams (their swimmers are in training for the Helsinki Olympics), the Japanese piled up a total of 130 points. India was second, with 95 points. Iran, with 43 points, beat the Philippines for third. The records were generally poor in comparison with world marks (e.g., best time for Asiad men's 400-meter hurdles: 54.2 sec.; world record: 50.6 sec.), but, in the words of one federation official: "The spirit of cooperation displayed here has been more important than smashing records."

For the Japanese, World War II enemy of all the other competitors but two (neutral Afghanistan, collaborating Siam), the Asiad was a triumph. Said one Japanese team member: "We were more anxious to win friends than win games." They had won both games and friends.

*Pakistan, a founding member of the Asian Games Federation, had withdrawn on the flimsy ground that it is a Middle East rather than an Asian country.

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