New dates of September 23 to October 8 next year have been set by the Olympic Council of Asia following a coronavirus-related postponement.

Venues at the Xiaoshan Sports Centre - due to stage weightlifting and football come Hangzhou 2022 - were shown illuminated in video footage shared by the Organising Committee.

The football stadium in Xiaoshan also features an athletics track, which Hangzhou 2022 reports opened to the public yesterday.

A drone show was additionally held in Hangzhou to celebrate the announcement of new dates. 

A twice-weekly drone show above the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre was previously announced by Hangzhou 2022 in the lead-up to the Asian Games, before postponement.

Robot mascots Lianlian, Chenchen and Congcong, plus the flagship "Big Lotus" stadium, all feature in a demonstration made possible by Qianji Innovation Group technology.

Hangzhou 2022 is set to be China's third staging of the Asian Games, following Beijing 1990 and Guangzhou 2010.

It is among a number of sporting events in the country to be either cancelled or delayed because of the COVID-19 crisis. 

Two postponements have seen the Chengdu 2021 Summer World University Games moved to 2023, while the Asian Beach Games in Sanya are also now scheduled to be held in 2023.

The Asian Youth Games in Shantou were cancelled altogether, while China pulled out of hosting next year's Asian Cup in men's football.

It did stage the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games earlier this year, inside a "closed-loop management system" which kept all participants away from the Chinese public. 

The schedule of COVID-19-hit international events has also brought China's record on human rights under scrutiny.

Several Western nations took part in a diplomatic boycott of Beijing 2022 but Asian countries largely did not join. 

Japan notably did not send Government officials to the Winter Olympics and Paralympics, but stopped short of announcing support for the diplomatic boycott.