Asian Games opened in festive atmosphere
Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Busan, South Korea
A festive atmosphere filled the Busan stadium as the Busan 2002 Asian Games was officially opened by South Korean President Kim Dae-jung on Sunday afternoon.
The Busan Asian Games Organizing Committee (BAGOC) picked A Beautiful Meeting theme for the ceremony, emphasizing the importance of the 14th Asiad. Not only in terms of the number of participants but also to mark the first Asiad of the new millennium.
In what is the largest Asiad ever held, 4,703 men and 2,011 women are competing in 38 sports for 420 gold medals.
The presence of Afghanistan, whose membership was frozen during the Taliban regime rule, and, in particular, North Korea, reflected the theme. It is the first time that all 43 member countries of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) have participated.
This is North Korea's first major sporting outing in the southern part of the peninsula after the North boycotted both the 1986 Asiad in Seoul and the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Previously, there were only soccer friendlies held in Pyongyang and Seoul.
Also in the spotlight is Afghanistan whose membership has been restored by the OCA following the toppling of the Taliban regime by the U.S.-led Western forces.
The world's newest nation, the tiny East Timor, also sent a small team to Busan although it once said it was not part of Asia but the Southwest Pacific region instead. East Timor sporting officials said they did not expect to win medals but were in Korea to participate in the quadrennial sporting event.
East Timor is not yet a member but the OCA has conveyed a special invitation to the former Indonesian province who prefer to have their own independence amid massive support from western countries, especially Australia.
Accompanied by music, the Nepalese team entered the stadium first according to the hangul (Korean alphabet) followed by Dong Timor (East Timor).
Veteran swimmer Richard Sam Bera led the Indonesian contingent holding the red-and-white flag followed by chef de mission Rudolf S. Warouw. Walking behind them were tennis player Peter Handoyo and karateka Jenny Zeannet Lolong in a traditional Manado costume while archer Gina Rahayu and tae kwon do exponent Basuki Nugroho wore Javanese traditional dress.
The rest of the Indonesian team wore read and white suits with white straw-hats.
The two Korean states were the last to enter the Stadium under the Hanbando flag depicting the Korean peninsula. The stadium roared when the two Korean contingents entered the stadium in blue-and-white suits hand in hand waving to the spectators. Both Koreas had the same arrangement at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
Men's handballer Hwang Seong-il of South Korea held the flag together with North Korean women's soccer player Li Jung-hee.
The OCA flag was carried by eight former South Korean athletes who have won medals in various world and regional sporting events. South Korean men's tae kwon do exponent Moon Dae-sung and women's tennis player Ryu Ji-hae read the athletes' oath while tennis umpire Kim Nam-sook read the referee's version.
The last torch bearers were Ha Hyong-ju, 1984 Los Angeles Olympic men's judo gold medalist, and Kee Syun-he who won the women's judo gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics in 1992. Once the cauldron was lit, there was another firecracker show.
The post-ceremony cultural program took its inspiration from an ancient story of the Korean kingdom Gaya which existed 2,000 years ago. King Kim Su-ro was destined to take a wife from the Ayodhya kingdom Huh Kwang-ok. The princess had to take a daring journey through unfriendly seas risking her life to marry the young king.
Busan itself is believed to be the place where both the king and princess met and brought prosperity to their subjects.
The performance showed the diverse and rich Korean culture to the 3.7 billion Asians across the continent.
Although the Asiad was officially opened on Sunday, some sports began competing days before the opening ceremony.
Soccer, for example, started its qualifying round on Friday, while basketball had its first match on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Indonesia 1 men's beach volleyball players Agus Salim and Koko Prasetyo, and Andy Ardiansyah and Supriadi in Indonesia 2 won against their opponents.
Indonesia 1 defeated Kazakstan 1, while Indonesia 2 beat Bahrain 2 in their group qualifying matches.
Sending 98 athletes, Indonesia is expecting to do better than in Bangkok in 1998 when it won just six gold medals.
The National Sports Council did not set a specific target for medals, saying only that it hoped "to bring home more than the six gold medals won in Bangkok."
President Megawati Soekarnoputri is expecting 15 gold medals which some observers say is unrealistic.
Several KONI officials, however, were sure that the athletes could bring home more than 15 gold medals.
Monday sees the possibility of Indonesian athletes winning its first medals of the tournament.
Cyclist Tonton Susanto is among the first of the Indonesian hopefuls to compete when he takes part in the men's 50 kilometer individual time trial in Gijang County. Women's weightlifters Lisa Rumbewas and Rosmainar are set to grab medals in the women's 48-kilogram weight division at the National University Gymnasium in Pukyong.
Since it began competing at the sporting event in 1951, Indonesia's best record is 11 golds at the Jakarta Asiad in 1962. Since then the country's achievements have declined, with the second best record of eight golds at the eighth Asiad in Bangkok in 1986. Twelve years later in the same city, Indonesia won six golds.
Meanwhile, in Gangseo Gymnasium, Chinese fencers won the first golds of the games.
Wang Habin defeated Kim Sang-hun of South Korea 15-11 in the men's individual foil event. The second gold medal was won in an all-Chinese final between Zhao Gang who defeated compatriot Wang Lei 13-11.