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Eyes on Asiad glory

INCHEON — Singapore flagbearer Gary Yeo could be forgiven if he thought K-pop superstars or even Martians had landed in the Asian Games Athletes’ Village yesterday, after a mad scramble broke out among about 50 local photographers just behind the Team Singapore contingent at the Flag Plaza.

INCHEON — Singapore flagbearer Gary Yeo could be forgiven if he thought K-pop superstars or even Martians had landed in the Asian Games Athletes’ Village yesterday, after a mad scramble broke out among about 50 local photographers just behind the Team Singapore contingent at the Flag Plaza.

The excitement arose because, in South Korea, it is not every day one comes face-to-face with athletes from their reclusive neighbours — North Korea.

Decked out in their white jackets and blue bottoms, with pin badges bearing the faces of former leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, the appearance of the 50-strong North Korean contingent caused quite a stir.

The simmering tension between the two nations has been prickly at best and, in the cauldron of the Asian Games, issues have come up, including the contentious flying of North’s flag throughout the South’s Asiad.

But the “Korean drama” was a brief distraction for Singapore’s athletes from athletics, sepak takraw, sailing and badminton at the Team Welcome Ceremony and flag-raising event for Singapore, Bangladesh, China, North Korea, Thailand and Yemen ahead of today’s opening ceremony at the Incheon Main Stadium.

Singapore’s quest to better their performance from the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou — the Republic finished 16th with four gold, seven silver and six bronze — begins tomorrow, with athletes from shooting, wushu, sepak takraw, fencing, hockey, equestrian and water polo in action.

Chef de mission Jessie Phua, who was sporting gold nail polish to inspire the athletes, expects bowling, sailing and swimming — which accounted for the nation’s four golds in 2010 — to deliver on Asia’s biggest stage again.

“They are going into the lion’s den (in South Korea) and I hope the sports psychologist has been able to help them,” she said.

“In recent months, a psychologist was also assigned to the coaches, as they are under pressure too. That is the ultimate ‘kiasu’ (fear of losing).”

Most of Singapore’s 224-strong athlete contingent have checked into the Athletes’ Village, where the majority of the estimated 13,000 athletes from 45 National Olympic Committees will be housed for the duration of the Sept 19 to Oct 4 Games.

Despite sparsely furnished apartments and an abundance of mosquitoes, the Singaporeans have settled well in the vast housing facility at Namdong-gu, which is equipped with bicycles, a theatre, karaoke rooms and sauna facilities.

The men’s 4x100m relay team of Calvin Kang, Amirudin Jamal, Elfi Mustapa, Naqib Asmin and Gary Yeo arrived on Monday, some two weeks ahead of the athletics competition, to acclimatise to Incheon’s autumnal chill.

“It’s quite basic, but the apartment is spacious and we’re on the 28th floor, which is great,” said Kang. “We didn’t get much competition this year and this is our last one till next season before the SEA Games.”

Sibling sailors Priscilla and Cecilia Low — partners in the 29er — are eyeing glory in Incheon after striking gold at the 2013 SEA Games and this year’s Asian Championships in Incheon.

“We expect light winds and strong currents here, and these currents will push your boat sideways, so you must compose yourself and work well together,” said elder sister Priscilla.

Cecilia added: “We’ve been prepping ourselves since arriving on Sept 7. We are just enjoying the atmosphere and want to do well in these Games.”

The 2014 Asian Games on MediaCorp’s okto Channel:

The opening ceremony will be shown “live” at 6pm today, with the encore telecast at 10pm tomorrow. “Today at the Games” will be televised from 9pm to 10pm daily and a “live” action belt from 2pm to 9pm daily.

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