(MENAFN- Arab Times) INCHEON South Korea Sept 19 (AFP): Pop star Psy kicked off the Asian Games 'Gangnam Style' in an energetic K-Pop-fuelled ceremony Friday as North Korean athletes received loud cheers from South Korean fans. Spectators and athletes alike joined in Psy's signature horse-riding dance as the singer belted out an electrifying rendition of his hit at Incheon's 61000-seat stadium. Wearing a glittering black suit and backed by a team of glamorous dancers the star brought the three-hour spectacle to a thumping finale heralding the start of 15 days of competition with 9500 athletes. South Korean President Park Geun-Hye officially opened the 17th edition of the Olympics-style event after athletes from 45 countries had filed into the purpose-built stadium. Actress Lee Young-Ae the star of hit Korean drama 'Dae Jang Geum' lit the Games' ceremonial flame helped by two children. But the ceremony's most touching moment came when the crowd bellowed their approval for the team from North Korea with which South Korea technically remains at war. The North's athletes and officials in pristine white blazers and blue trousers gave only the slightest of grins as they paraded in contrast to their enthusiastic welcome. There were also big cheers for Japan and China allaying fears they could get a frosty reception because of tensions over Beijing's long-standing support for Pyongyang and Tokyo's colonial rule. Organisers will hope the ceremony will inject some much-needed buzz into the Games after slow ticket sales just 18 percent early this week generated an air of apathy. Fans have shunned many of the matches so far in football the only competition to start before the official opening with barely 100 showing up for Jordan's win over United Arab Emirates on Thursday night. Even the showcase opening where top-price tickets cost $1000 failed to draw a capacity crowd with hundreds of seats still empty at the start of the spectacle. The hosts will be desperate for a good early showing by their athletes to fire up the local fans and the pressure will be on Jung Jee-Hae who is favourite for the Games' first gold in the women's 10m air pistol on Saturday. The show to start one of the world's biggest sporting events themed around the concept of 'One Asia' united began with a blast of high-octane K-Pop from boy band Exo. There were performances from Grammy award-winning Korean soprano Sumi Jo and Chinese concert pianist Lang Lang. The torch was carried round the stadium by a series of Korean sports stars including world number two woman golfer Park In-Bee and speed skater Lee Kyou-Hyuk. However it was not an athlete who lit the ceremonial flame but actress Lee. The 17th Asiad includes the full Olympic programme plus Asian favourites like kabaddi and wushu making for a packed schedule of 36 sports with 439 gold medals on offer. The mayor of South Korea's third city has admitted that Incheon which has built 17 new venues is in financial trouble because of the cost of hosting the Games. South Korea are looking to consolidate second spot in the medals table behind China who swept a record 199 gold medals and 416 overall at Guangzhou 2010. China who have won nearly 1200 gold medals since they first competed in 1974 look certain to extend their dominance. Beijing officials have played down expectations that China can match their performance of 2010 but there is little doubt they will top the medals table for the ninth time in a row. The country's emerging stars set the last Asian Games alight and this edition will be an important proving ground as China looks towards the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. The president of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) said Friday the body was 'encouraging' Saudi Arabia to put forward female athletes after the kingdom brought only men to Asiad. OCA President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah told reporters he was hopeful Saudi women would appear in future Games. Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday slammed Saudi Arabia's decision not to include women in its Asian Games team for the multi-sports event in South Korea as a 'backward step'. The Arab state took two women to the 2012 Olympics in London 800m runner Sarah Attar and judoka Wodjan Shahrkani after lifting a ban on women competing in the Games. But a men-only squad of 202 makes up its representation at the 17th Asiad which officially opens in Incheon on Friday. Sheikh Ahmad said he did not believe Saudi Arabia had changed its policy after London. 'Before maybe we had to continue to have doubts about it. But Saudi Arabia already participated with female athletes in London' he said during a break in an OCA Executive Board meeting. 'That means they are not against participation in principle. Maybe they don't technically have somebody to participate' Sheikh Ahmad added. 'Of course we are encouraging them. But today we cannot say they are not allowing (women) because in the London Games they participated. 'I hope they will have somebody qualified for the future.' HRW said Saudi Arabia's decision not to bring any women to the Asian Games was 'a backward step for women's participation in sport'. 'Saudi Arabia needs to end its discrimination against women and ensure women's right to participate in sport on an equal basis with men' Sarah Leah Whitson HRW's Middle East and North Africa director said. In contrast to Saudi Arabia Qatar have sent a record 55 women in its 260 strong Asian Games delegation. Qatar had two women in their London Olympics team in 2012 their first female Olympians including shooter Bahia al-Hamad who is the Gulf state's top female hope for Asian Games success. Asia's Olympic chief said Friday he was confident stadiums would be full at the Asian Games in Incheon despite poor ticket sales. The 17th Asiad which have cost nearly $2 billion and will feature 13000 athletes coaches and officials officially opens later Friday but thousands of tickets have yet to be sold. Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah president of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) insisted that once South Korea started winning medals at the two-week-long multi-sports event Koreans would flock to the venues. He suggested that locals had been too distracted recently by a mayoral election in Incheon economic worries and the South's relations with reclusive North Korea to take an interest in sport. 'For those reasons most of the citizens were busy with something else... (and) maybe not following the games very closely' he told reporters during a break from an OCA Executive Board Meeting. 'But since two days ago the opening ceremony tickets have almost sold for a full stadium. The selling of tickets has started to be better than before.' Organisers have stopped reporting the number of tickets sold instead opting only to release receipts after earlier this week saying that barely 18 percent had been flogged to spectators. There were fewer than 100 people in the Goyang Stadium when Jordan's football team beat United Arab Emirates silver medallists in the Asian Games four years ago on Thursday night. On Friday a spokeswoman said that overall the Games had reached 55 percent of its 35 billion won target ($335 million) target up from 52 percent the day before. 'I believe with our experience of the Asians emotionally that when the first flag of Korea is raised after a gold medal and the local media will have more attention for the Games' ticket sales will improve Sheikh Ahmad said. 'I'm sure the final will be full. I am sure the main sports will be full' the top Olympic official added.
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