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Largest Asian Games open
Busan, Sept 29: The new millennium`s first Asian Games, the biggest in history, opened at this South Korean city with a ceremony splashed with legends and traditions, culture and fanfare and a far-reaching message for a new vision, unity and peace.
Busan, Sept 29: The new millennium`s first Asian Games, the biggest in history, opened at this South Korean city with a ceremony splashed with legends and traditions, culture and fanfare and a far-reaching message for a new vision, unity and peace.
Amidst tight security, South Korean president Kim Dae-Jung officially opened the 14th edition of the games in front of a record number of 9,919 athletes and officials from 44 countries, including India, who had assembled at the Asiad main stadium a little after 1800 hrs.
A new future beckoned and a notable chapter in history was written today at busan, where the eastern mountains of the Asia meet the Pacific Ocean, as North and South Korean athletes and officials for the first time in the continent entered the arena hand in hand with the ``hanbando`` flag which showed a map of the peninsula, signifying the unification of the two nations that are technically till at war. After the Korean war of 1951-1953 no formal treaty was signed between the two countries.
It is for the first time that North Korea is taking part in a sports event in the South, having boycotted the 1986 Seoul games. Understandibly, ``New vision, new Asia`` is the slogan of these games and ``a beautiful meeting`` was the theme of the opening ceremony based on the legend of an ancient kingdom which existed in Busan.
The legend speaks of a princess from Ayodhya crossing the ocean at great risk to her life to marry a prince from the Korean kingdom of Gaya.
Blue lanterns, used in South Korea to receive honoured guests, ushered in each contingent into the packed stadium. The over 350-strong Indian team was led by ace hockey player Dhanraj Pillay. Pillay was Indian flagbearer at the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games too.
Indians got a warm welcome from the audience but the biggest applause was saved for the two Koreas who entered last and members of war-ravaged Afghanistan.
Over the next 15 days, a record number of more than 6000 athletes will battle for 419 gold medals in 38 disciplines, the largest sports display ever seen at the games that began in New Delhi in 1951 with an attendance of a mere 489 sportspersons. This is the first time after Hiroshima that the games are being held in a non-capital city.
Bureau Report
A new future beckoned and a notable chapter in history was written today at busan, where the eastern mountains of the Asia meet the Pacific Ocean, as North and South Korean athletes and officials for the first time in the continent entered the arena hand in hand with the ``hanbando`` flag which showed a map of the peninsula, signifying the unification of the two nations that are technically till at war. After the Korean war of 1951-1953 no formal treaty was signed between the two countries.
It is for the first time that North Korea is taking part in a sports event in the South, having boycotted the 1986 Seoul games. Understandibly, ``New vision, new Asia`` is the slogan of these games and ``a beautiful meeting`` was the theme of the opening ceremony based on the legend of an ancient kingdom which existed in Busan.
The legend speaks of a princess from Ayodhya crossing the ocean at great risk to her life to marry a prince from the Korean kingdom of Gaya.
Blue lanterns, used in South Korea to receive honoured guests, ushered in each contingent into the packed stadium. The over 350-strong Indian team was led by ace hockey player Dhanraj Pillay. Pillay was Indian flagbearer at the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games too.
Indians got a warm welcome from the audience but the biggest applause was saved for the two Koreas who entered last and members of war-ravaged Afghanistan.
Over the next 15 days, a record number of more than 6000 athletes will battle for 419 gold medals in 38 disciplines, the largest sports display ever seen at the games that began in New Delhi in 1951 with an attendance of a mere 489 sportspersons. This is the first time after Hiroshima that the games are being held in a non-capital city.
Bureau Report