China

China on track to post record tally

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-11-19 08:05

Sun Yang of China celebrates after winning the men's 1500m freestyle final at the Asian Games in Guangzhou on Thursday. Yang Shizhong / China Daily

GUANGZHOU - Chinese teenagers Sun Yang and Ye Shiwen emerged as gold hopefuls for the 2012 London Olympics as the Asian Games swimming competition wound down on Thursday and took host's overall gold-medal haul to 109.

China won 12 golds on Day 6, including two in the pool, and is on track to surpassing the record of 183 it set at the 1990 Beijing Asian Games. The Republic of Korea (ROK) is second in the table with 37 golds and Japan is third with 21.

Sun, 18, who was beaten into second place in the men's 200m and 400m freestyle events by ROK Olympic champion Park Tae-hwan, finally outshone his rival in 1,500m. He dominated the longest event in 14:35.43, breaking teammate Zhang Lin's Asian record by 10.41 seconds.

The time was 0.87 seconds behind the world record of 14:34.56 set by Australian Grant Hackett in July 2001.

Park finished second in 15:01.72 and ended his second Asiad with seven medals, including three golds.

"I thought Hackett's world record was too far away from me, but now it's so close," Sun said. "But I have not thought about breaking the record. I will start from the very beginning tomorrow and work hard for next year's world championships and the London Olympics."

China claimed all but two women's gold medals in the pool after six days of competition, with 14-year-old Ye winning two to prompt speculation she will make a big splash in the London Olympics.

Ye eased to victory in the women's 200m individual medley in 2:09.37, adding to the 400m individual medley title she won on Sunday.

"My goal in the coming two years is to win in the London Olympic Games," Ye said.

Tao Li of Singapore won the women's 50m butterfly title to become the only swimmer from outside of "three giants" - China, the ROK and Japan - to win a swimming gold.

Japan was the biggest winner, with Naoya Tomita winning the men's 200m breaststroke in the absence of Kosuke Kitajima and Junya Koga prevailing in the 50m backstroke. It also won the men's 4x100m medley relay after China, which touched first, was disqualified.

Japan and China each won 16 gold swimming golds four years ago in Doha, but China ruled the pool this time with 24 golds. Japan took only nine and none of them were from its women. The ROK got four and Singapore had one.

Thailand, Indonesia and Jordan became the new countries to win a gold medal, increasing the number of gold-winning delegations to 17.

Nabil Hassan of Jordan defeated Nesar Ahmad Bahawi of Afghanistan to win the men's 80kg taekwondo gold medal. Thailand's Sarita Phongsri beat Vietnam's Thi Hoai Thu Nguyen to win the women's under 53kg taekwondo title. Indonesia tasted its first gold in the men's dragon boat 1,000m straight event.

The ROK swept both gold medals on the opening day of fencing, with Kim Hye-rim winning the women's individual sabre and Kim Won-jin taking the men's individual epee.

In rowing, China bagged six out of seven titles and Japan got one.

Shooting also closed its action on Thursday, when the ROK's remarkable run continued by winning three of four events, taking its tally to 13 golds, only two behind China.

In weightlifting, Kazakhstan stole the limelight as two lifters claimed gold medals to break China's monopoly on weightlifting.

Two-time world champion and world record-holder Svetlana Podobedova clinched the gold of women's 75kg with a considerable margin of 22kg from second-place and Olympic champion Cao Lei of China. Reigning champion Ilya Ilyin took the gold of men's 94kg by snatching 175kg and jerking 219kg for a winning total of 394kg.

In soccer, the Chinese women emulated the fortune of their male counterpart, losing 8-7 on penalty kicks to the ROK after a 0-0 draw left them tied atop Group A. China still advanced in second place.

Xinhua