The 16th Asian Games (www.gz2010.cn/en), part of the worldwide Olympic movement and governed by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) is pleased to announce that more than 200,000 tickets goes on sale from May 20, for 69 matches of 13 disciplines, whose schedules have been confirmed, including Table Tennis, Badminton, Athletics, Cycling (BMX), Roller Sports, Triathlon, Judo, Wrestling, Gymnastics (Rhythmic and Trampoline), Shooting (Trap), Golf and Rowing.

The Asian Games are the second largest sports event in the world after the Summer Olympic Games.

Tickets are sold on a first come, first served basis and the tickets on sale are representing approximately 10% of all tickets available for The 16th Asian Games - with the remainder of the tickets available to the public in October.

Starting at 10 a.m. (Beijing Time), the public can log on the Official Ticketing Website of the Guangzhou 2010 Asian Games (tickets.gz2010.cn) to book their tickets. Spectators can also apply for tickets at 400 designated ticket sale branches of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) across China, including the Macao Special Administrative Region. No service fee will be charged and a confirmation letter will be sent.

To book tickets for The 16th Asian Games, please note the following:

To book tickets on the Official Ticketing Website of the Guangzhou 2010 Asian Games (tickets.gz2010.cn), you need to first create a personal account;

One person can submit only one ticket booking form at a time for a maximum of 10 different matches and a minimum of two for the most popular matches – or a maximum of five tickets per match;

In order to facilitate payment, credit cardholders and debit cardholders of six domestic China banks, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC); Agricultural Bank of China; China Merchants Bank; China Construction Bank; China Minsheng Bank and Bank of Communications may make their payment through online banking services;

Visa and MasterCard credit cards which are issued by international banks and are available for “Verification by Visa” or “MasterCard SecureCode” may also make online payments;

Fans who want to purchase tickets at ticketing outlets should either use a bank card or a current deposit passbook issued by ICBC for payment, and

For enquiries, please call the Guangzhou Asian Games Ticketing Hotline (86-20-125-8088), look for brochures at any of the 400 designated ICBC ticket sale branches across China or visit the Official Ticketing Website of the Guangzhou 2010 Asian Games at tickets.gz2010.cn