Asian Games opened in festive atmosphere<\/p>\n
Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Busan, South Korea<\/p>\n
A festive atmosphere filled the Busan stadium as the Busan 2002
\nAsian Games was officially opened by South Korean President Kim
\nDae-jung on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n
The Busan Asian Games Organizing Committee (BAGOC) picked A
\nBeautiful Meeting theme for the ceremony, emphasizing the
\nimportance of the 14th Asiad. Not only in terms of the number of
\nparticipants but also to mark the first Asiad of the new
\nmillennium.<\/p>\n
In what is the largest Asiad ever held, 4,703 men and 2,011
\nwomen are competing in 38 sports for 420 gold medals.<\/p>\n
The presence of Afghanistan, whose membership was frozen
\nduring the Taliban regime rule, and, in particular, North Korea,
\nreflected the theme. It is the first time that all 43 member
\ncountries of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) have participated.<\/p>\n
This is North Korea's first major sporting outing in the
\nsouthern part of the peninsula after the North boycotted both the
\n1986 Asiad in Seoul and the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Previously,
\nthere were only soccer friendlies held in Pyongyang and Seoul.<\/p>\n
Also in the spotlight is Afghanistan whose membership has been
\nrestored by the OCA following the toppling of the Taliban regime
\nby the U.S.-led Western forces.<\/p>\n
The world's newest nation, the tiny East Timor, also sent a
\nsmall team to Busan although it once said it was not part of Asia
\nbut the Southwest Pacific region instead. East Timor sporting
\nofficials said they did not expect to win medals but were in
\nKorea to participate in the quadrennial sporting event.<\/p>\n
East Timor is not yet a member but the OCA has conveyed a
\nspecial invitation to the former Indonesian province who prefer
\nto have their own independence amid massive support from western
\ncountries, especially Australia.<\/p>\n
Accompanied by music, the Nepalese team entered the stadium
\nfirst according to the hangul (Korean alphabet) followed by Dong
\nTimor (East Timor).<\/p>\n
Veteran swimmer Richard Sam Bera led the Indonesian contingent
\nholding the red-and-white flag followed by chef de mission Rudolf
\nS. Warouw. Walking behind them were tennis player Peter Handoyo
\nand karateka Jenny Zeannet Lolong in a traditional Manado costume
\nwhile archer Gina Rahayu and tae kwon do exponent Basuki Nugroho
\nwore Javanese traditional dress.<\/p>\n
The rest of the Indonesian team wore read and white suits with
\nwhite straw-hats.<\/p>\n
The two Korean states were the last to enter the Stadium under
\nthe Hanbando flag depicting the Korean peninsula. The stadium
\nroared when the two Korean contingents entered the stadium in
\nblue-and-white suits hand in hand waving to the spectators. Both
\nKoreas had the same arrangement at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.<\/p>\n
Men's handballer Hwang Seong-il of South Korea held the flag
\ntogether with North Korean women's soccer player Li Jung-hee.<\/p>\n
The OCA flag was carried by eight former South Korean athletes
\nwho have won medals in various world and regional sporting
\nevents. South Korean men's tae kwon do exponent Moon Dae-sung and
\nwomen's tennis player Ryu Ji-hae read the athletes' oath while
\ntennis umpire Kim Nam-sook read the referee's version.<\/p>\n
The last torch bearers were Ha Hyong-ju, 1984 Los Angeles
\nOlympic men's judo gold medalist, and Kee Syun-he who won the
\nwomen's judo gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics in 1992. Once the
\ncauldron was lit, there was another firecracker show.<\/p>\n
The post-ceremony cultural program took its inspiration from
\nan ancient story of the Korean kingdom Gaya which existed 2,000
\nyears ago. King Kim Su-ro was destined to take a wife from the
\nAyodhya kingdom Huh Kwang-ok. The princess had to take a daring
\njourney through unfriendly seas risking her life to marry the
\nyoung king.<\/p>\n
Busan itself is believed to be the place where both the king
\nand princess met and brought prosperity to their subjects.<\/p>\n
The performance showed the diverse and rich Korean culture to
\nthe 3.7 billion Asians across the continent.<\/p>\n
Although the Asiad was officially opened on Sunday, some
\nsports began competing days before the opening ceremony.<\/p>\n
Soccer, for example, started its qualifying round on Friday,
\nwhile basketball had its first match on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Indonesia 1 men's beach volleyball players Agus
\nSalim and Koko Prasetyo, and Andy Ardiansyah and Supriadi in
\nIndonesia 2 won against their opponents.<\/p>\n
Indonesia 1 defeated Kazakstan 1, while Indonesia 2 beat
\nBahrain 2 in their group qualifying matches.<\/p>\n
Sending 98 athletes, Indonesia is expecting to do better than
\nin Bangkok in 1998 when it won just six gold medals.<\/p>\n
The National Sports Council did not set a specific target for
\nmedals, saying only that it hoped \"to bring home more than the
\nsix gold medals won in Bangkok.\"<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri is expecting 15 gold medals
\nwhich some observers say is unrealistic.<\/p>\n
Several KONI officials, however, were sure that the athletes
\ncould bring home more than 15 gold medals.<\/p>\n
Monday sees the possibility of Indonesian athletes winning its
\nfirst medals of the tournament.<\/p>\n
Cyclist Tonton Susanto is among the first of the Indonesian
\nhopefuls to compete when he takes part in the men's 50 kilometer
\nindividual time trial in Gijang County. Women's weightlifters
\nLisa Rumbewas and Rosmainar are set to grab medals in the women's
\n48-kilogram weight division at the National University Gymnasium
\nin Pukyong.<\/p>\n
Since it began competing at the sporting event in 1951,
\nIndonesia's best record is 11 golds at the Jakarta Asiad in 1962.
\nSince then the country's achievements have declined, with the
\nsecond best record of eight golds at the eighth Asiad in Bangkok
\nin 1986. Twelve years later in the same city, Indonesia won six
\ngolds.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in Gangseo Gymnasium, Chinese fencers won the first
\ngolds of the games.<\/p>\n
Wang Habin defeated Kim Sang-hun of South Korea 15-11 in the
\nmen's individual foil event. The second gold medal was won in an
\nall-Chinese final between Zhao Gang who defeated compatriot Wang
\nLei 13-11.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/asian-games-opened-in-festive-atmosphere-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}