Imagine standing for your national anthem and hearing your neighbour's instead. That's exactly what happened to South Korea's men's field hockey team at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, when organisers accidentally played the North Korean anthem ahead of their group match against Bangladesh.
The players were visibly caught off guard. Video and reports from the scene describe the squad standing at attention in front of the South Korean flag, some with hands over their hearts, others just fidgeting and exchanging glances as the unfamiliar music played out. South Korea's Yonhap news agency branded it an "awkward mishap" — an understatement, given the sensitivity of anything involving the two Koreas.
Organisers moved fast to fix it. Bangladesh's anthem was played first, then South Korea's. But the clock was already ticking towards the scheduled start, so the referee told the teams to exchange pre-match greetings while the correct anthem was still playing. The result: the South Koreans never got to sing their own song before kick-off. They probably didn't need the morale boost anyway — they went on to beat Bangladesh 5-0.
Why did a preliminary match happen before the Games had even opened? Simple logistics. With more than 11,000 athletes competing — a bigger field than the Summer Olympics — the schedule is so packed that some events start ahead of the official ceremony to fit everything in. That compressed timetable is exactly the kind of environment where an anthem mix-up can slip through.
For travellers on the ground in Hangzhou during the Games, the story is a small window into the scale of the event. This is one of the largest multi-sport gatherings in the world, and the city — a Chinese tourism favourite known for West Lake, tea plantations and canals — has been rebuilt around it, with new metro lines and venues spread across the metropolis. Early-round matches in lesser-hyped sports like field hockey are often the easiest tickets to grab, and the atmosphere is relaxed compared with the finals. Just don't count on the pre-match playlist being accurate.
The takeaway for anyone heading to a big multi-sport event: expect quirks. Pre-opening matches run on tight schedules, ceremonies get truncated, and even the most basic rituals can go sideways. South Korea got the win and a story to tell; the organising committee got a lesson in double-checking the sound system.