Favorites China took early charge of the Asian Games shooting competition by winning the first three gold medals on offer at the Lusail ranges yesterday.
The Chinese men won the 10m Air Rifle team event and the women added the Trap team and individual gold medals to give their rivals a taste of their expected domination over the next six days.
China is also expected to sweep the remaining three events on the opening day at the wind-swept ranges in the Qatari capital.
World No. 1 Li Chen easily won the women's Trap individual event with a tally of 89 points, nine more than the joint 80 scored by team-mate Zhu Mei and Lin Yi-chun of Taiwan.
Zhu took the silver on the tie-breaker to make it a 1-2 for the Chinese.
Disappointing
South Korea's Lee Bo-na, a gold medal contender here after winning two medals at the Athens Olympics, finished a disappointing 11th with 60 points.
"The wind created a problem but I had prepared for that well over the last two days," said Li. "It is nice to end the day with both the team and individual golds."
In the team event, Li and her compatriots scored 195 points while North Korea won the silver with 186 points and South Korea the bronze with 174 points.
China had earlier won the first gold medal of these Asian Games when they claimed the men's 10m Air Rifle team event.
Indian Bronze
South Korea won the silver and India bagged the bronze after the end of individual qualification rounds which decided the winner of the team event.
The Chinese trio of Liu Tianyou, Li Jie and Zhu Qinan finished with 1,786 points, 11 more than the second-placed Korean team of Yu Jae-chung, Chae Kean-bae and Kim Hye-sung.
India, missing World Cup champion Abhinav Bindra through a back injury, finished just one point behind the Koreans on 1,776 points.
Gagan Narang shot 595 points in his six rounds and Padinchare Raghunath came in with 592, but rookie Navanath Faratade managed only 589 to deny the Indians a silver.
"Abhinav's absence made a big difference but I am not blaming Navanath," Indian coach Sunny Thomas said. "It is his first major event and he was a bit nervous. He is human. Anyone can have a bad day."
Soccer officials yesterday offered “full support and assistance” to the Iranian team in Australia for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup after the US and Israel launched massive attacks on their homeland. Iran’s 26-strong squad arrived on the Gold Coast days before the strikes on Saturday killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Washington and Tel Aviv seek to topple the Islamic republic. They are due to open their tournament today against South Korea. The AFC in a statement said it “continues to closely monitor the recent developments in the Middle East during this challenging period.” “The AFC’s foremost priority remains the welfare, safety and
EVERY DAY A VICTORY: Players on the women’s team faced pressure from society just getting out onto the field as they prepare for their first Women’s Asian Cup game today Bangladesh’s national soccer team face daunting odds at their first-ever Women’s Asian Cup, but have already scored a major victory by qualifying. In the South Asian nation of 170 million, social stigma, family expectations, poverty and religious hardliners have long relegated women and girls to sports sidelines. The first women’s soccer league matches took place in 2011 and the squad, known to fans as the Red and Green, have kept pressing forward despite deeply embedded prejudices. “Many more girls would have joined us if the community had been even slightly supportive,” captain Afeida Khandaker told AFP ahead of her side’s March 3
ROAD RASH: Marc Marquez retired after a crash, marking the first time after 88 consecutive races stretching back to 2021 that a Ducati bike failed to make the podium Marco Bezzecchi yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening grand prix in Thailand from pole position as defending world champion Marc Marquez retired late with a buckled wheel. Aprilia’s Bezzecchi led from start to finish to top the podium in Buriram, with KTM’s Pedro Acosta second and Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez third. Ducati’s Marquez is chasing a record-equaling eighth world title this season, but he exited the race in dramatic fashion while in fourth place with five laps to go. The Spaniard, who started from second on the grid, took a corner wide, with the jolt to his bike dislodging the rear tire, badly damaging his
Liverpool on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the English Premier League’s bottom club. Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux. Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November last year. However, Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool. It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017. Liverpool
RSS