Sardar Singh led the Indian contingent out during the ceremony, but the Indian officials certainly did not make it sound like an honour while announcing it a day before. “Actually all the people were asked but they had matches, Sardar did not. So we chose him,” Chef de Mission Adille Sumariwalla said.

Quite embarrassingly for the organisers, the giant LED screens inside the stadium flashed a message that prohibited people from throwing, among other things, raw eggs just when the popular boy-band Exo concluded their performance. Talk about Koreans and their precise timing!

Language has been the biggest barrier at these Games so far. There have been some innocent mistakes. But even the co-host of the evening couldn’t hide his surprise when his colleague, in between performances, told the crowd, “Enjoy this dark moment at the Games while you can.”

Interestingly, the national flowers of each of the 45 countries were explained as they marched into the stadium, in sync with the peace theme. All except three — Lebanon, UAE and East Timor, who do not have a national flower! Wonder if the organisers knew that before they came up with the idea.

A dozen Korean officials formed a human wall as ‘Gangnam Style’ started, perhaps wanting to avoid a repeat of what happened at the Closing Ceremony of Glasgow Games when Kylie Minogue’s act was gate-crashed by an over-enthusiastic Australian steeplechaser. That’s the security, Incheon style.

Jackets over sarees? Indian women seem to have made a new style statement!

A special lighting device was used before at an Opening Ceremony made its debut on Friday. The lights were placed on spectator seats and a warning was made before the ceremony even began. “We sincerely request you do not break or damage them,” the announcer pleaded.