Fireworks are an integral part of opening and closing ceremonies at all major sports events. However, in a significant change from tradition, the opening ceremony of the Asian Games in Hangzhou, which will be staged on September 23, will not feature traditional fireworks performance.

“The opening ceremony of the Hangzhou Asian Games will break the tradition of having fireworks performance, as we are sticking to a green philosophy in hosting the event,” said Sha Xiaolan, the general director of the games’ opening ceremony.

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“As we want to reduce the carbon emissions as much as possible, so we have decided to cut the fireworks performances.”

Sha, however, said that visual effects and sound shows will be used to communicate with the audience on the theme of “people, beauty and emotions”.

“The most important thing is that we want to spread our philosophy of environmental protection, and that’s why we finally made the decision,” Sha added.

The Asian Games will officially start on September 23, with India sending a massive contingent of 655 athletes, participating in 39 sporting disciplines. Some events including football, volleyball and cricket will start as early as Tuesday.

In the 2018 edition of the Asian Games held in Jakarta, India came eighth in the standings and won 70 medals including 16 gold, 23 silver and 31 bronze medals. This was India’s best ever medal haul at the continental event.

The upcoming edition of the Asian Games will serve as an Olympic qualifier for such as hockey, archery and boxing. As of now 15 Indian athletes have secured their spots in Paris primarily in athletics and shooting, and as such the Games will provide the perfect platform for participants to book their berths for the Olympics.

Accordingly, the Asian Games will offer as many as 34 quota places — the highest in terms of number – for boxers, based on their performances. In men’s boxing, two quotas per category will be available, guaranteeing Olympic spots to the gold and silver medalists. In women’s boxing, except for the 66kg and 75kg weight categories, four quotas will be up for grabs in each weight category.

In hockey, the men’s and women’s champions will directly earn a qualification for the Paris Games. As such, the Indian men and women hockey teams, currently holding the top spots in Asia, could be the strong contenders to seal their Olympic berths.

Archers also will have the opportunity to secure quotas in both individual and mixed team categories. While there won’t be quotas awarded for men’s and women’s team events, the mixed Recurve team event champions will seal an Olympic quota. In addition to that, the gold and silver medallists in individual Recurve archery (both men and women) will have an opportunity to earn qualification.