Japan's win in the men's double lightweight sculls yesterday helped dent early double gold medal successes by China and Uzbekistan in rowing events at the Asian Games.
Hideki Omoto and Takahiro Suda of Japan sped down the seaside West Bay Lagoon course in three minutes, 19.29 seconds over the 1,000 meters, just ahead of the 3:19.92 posted by silver medal winners Thailand. India was third for the bronze.
"We wanted to go from the start with full power and try to keep the speed," Suda said. "I saw the Thai team coming closer at 750 meters and we called on each other to go faster."
PHOTO: AFP
Uzbekistan won gold in the men's double sculls -- Vladimir Chernenko and Ruslan Naurzaliyev doing the honors -- and Zarrina Ganieva and Sevara Ganiyeva took gold in the women's lightweight double sculls.
China, meanwhile won the women's double sculls with Li Qin and Tian Liang and the women's fours, boosting their runaway gold medal count to 65 early on the fifth day of competition.
Kazakhstan's 10-meter running target mixed team's gold at the Lusail shooting complex in the desert north of Doha was the only non-Chinese shooting win of the day.
Chinese shooters took three other events, including Gan Lin in the 10m running target mixed and Wang Chengyi in the women's three-position 50m rifle.
Elsewhere, Yuka Watanabe had 26 points and Noriko Sakakibara added 25 to lead Japan to a 99-67 win over Lebanon in women's basketball.
Japan led by one point at halftime but ran away with the game in the second half, outscoring Lebanon 22-14 in the third quarter and 32-9 in the fourth.
Japan's Yuka Oga said the game would give her team confidence in its next match tomorrow against gold medal favorites China.
"China is so big, but our style is so fast," Oga said.
"Over 40 minutes we should run the fast-break and get the open three-point shot, which is the Japanese style. Then we can win," Oga added.
Thailand won the day's opening baseball game, beating winless Philippines 8-1, but both teams finished at the bottom of the six-team standings, Thailand at 1-4 and the Philippines 0-5.
South Korea played China later yesterday, with the winner getting the bronze medal. Japan and Taiwan play for gold today.
Twelve days after winning her second Grand Slam title at the French Open, Coco Gauff fell at the first hurdle on grass in Berlin on Thursday as beaten Paris finalist Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarter-finals. Recipient of a first round bye, American Gauff lost 6-3, 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu as world number one Sabalenka beat Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) in her second round tie. Winner of 10 main tour titles, including the US Open in 2023 and the WTA Finals last year, Gauff has yet to lift a trophy in a grass-court tournament. “After I won the first
While British star Jack Draper spent the past week trying to find rhythm and comfort in his first grass tournament of the season at the Queen’s Club Championships in London, Jiri Lehecka on Saturday bulldozed everything in his path. After more than two furious hours of battle, their form was reflected in the final scoreline as Lehecka toppled a frustrated Draper, the second seed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the biggest final of his career, against Carlos Alcaraz. Lehecka is also the first Czech to reach the men’s title match at Queen’s since Ivan Lendl lifted the trophy in 1990. Draper, who
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staged a “crazy comeback,” saving four match points before beating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open on Friday. Sabalenka was 6-2 down in the final-set tie-breaker, but won six straight points to reach her eighth semi-final of the season. “Elena is a great player and we’ve had a lot of tough battles,” Sabalenka said. “I have no idea how I was able to win those last points. I think I just got lucky.” “I remember a long time ago when I was just starting, I won a lot of matches being down
The Canterbury Crusaders edged the Waikato Chiefs 16-12 in an intense Super Rugby Pacific final battle in Christchurch yesterday to claim their 15th title in 30 years of the Southern Hemisphere competition. Hooker Codie Taylor scored a try and Rivez Reihana contributed 11 points from the kicking tee as the most dominant team in Super Rugby history extended their perfect home playoff record to 32 successive matches since 1998. The Chiefs, who were looking for a first title since 2013, scored first-half tries through George Dyer and Shaun Stevenson, but were unable to register a point after the break and fell to
RSS