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The 2nd Asian Games (also known as the II Asiad) were held in Manila, Philippines from May 1 to May 9, 1954. The Games were formally opened by President Ramon Magsaysay at 4:02 PM May 1, 1954. Around 20,000 spectators fill the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Malate, Manila for the opening ceremony. As requested by the IOC, the torch relay and lighting of the couldron were excluded from the Opening Ceremony to preserve the tradition of the Olympic Games. The torch ceremony were returned at the 1958 Asian Games. The host however gave a solution by giving a special citation to the last athlete to enter the parade. The Philippines, as host, was the last country to enter the stadium. Andres Franco was the flag bearer of the Philippines. This edition of the games has a different twist where it did not implement a medal tally system to determine the overall champion but a pointing system. The pointing system is a complex system where each athlete were given points according to their achievement like position in athletics or in swimming. In the end the pointing system showed to be worthless as it simply ranked the nations the same way in the medal tally system. The pointing system was not implemented in future games eversince. Jorge B. Vargas was the head of the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation (In 1976, was renamed as Philippine Olympic Committee) and the Manila Asian Games Organizing Committee. With the second place finish of the Philippines, only around 9,000 spectators attend the closing ceremony at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. The events were broadcast on radio live at DZRH and DZAQ-TV ABS-3 on delayed telecast.
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