Hu Kai and Qin Wangping won the men's and women's 100m titles and six other athletes clinched gold as China got off to a roaring start on day one of track and field competition at the East Asian Games.
After two false starts yesterday, the bespectacled Hu -- dubbed "The Flying Spectacles Man" after his win at the World University Games in August -- surged ahead of the field, clocking 10.40 seconds.
In the women's sprint, Qin and compatriot Shu Yan broke away from the pack for a Chinese gold-silver sweep. Japan's Ayumi Suzuki was nearly 0.20 seconds behind Shu.
PHOTO: AFP
The men's competition was more tightly contested. Japan's Shingo Kawabata took silver with a time of 10.54. Taiwan's Wang Shih-wen finished in 10.63 for bronze.
Hu, 23, said he peaked during China's recent national games, in which he won silver, and wasn't fully prepared for Macau.
"I'm happy enough that I won," Hu told reporters. He said the false starts helped him get settled.
PHOTO: AP
"What happened gave me room to adjust," Hu said.
Meanwhile, 23-year-old Qin rated her performance as only "OK." She said she felt pressure because she didn't compete in heats.
"If there were heats I could have adjusted my rhythm. Since there was only one race, I just did my best," she said.
Not needing their best to win has been a theme for Chinese athletes in general at these games.
The Chinese are often in a class of their own among a relatively weak nine-nation field that includes smaller territories like Hong Kong and Macau.
But the Chinese are competing in Macau as part of a buildup to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The recent national games in Nanjing was the first stage, Macau is the second, and the next is the 2006 Asian Games in Doha.
China's biggest track star, Olympic 110-meter hurdles champion Liu Xiang, is racing today.
In other Chinese triumphs, Wu Tao won the discus throw, Bao Guiying prevailed in the 10,000 meters, Jing Xuezhu took the high jump title and Li Meiju was the top shot putter.
Bao's time of 32 minutes, 35.07 seconds was well slower than her personal best, and more than three minutes behind the world record held by her compatriot Wang Junxia.
But that was enough to stave off Japan's Hiromi Ominami (32:36.62), the only runner who kept up with her. North Korea's Paek Hyan Gok was third in 34:53.06.
Bao said she wasn't happy with her time, despite the relative ease of her win.
"For me, the result isn't too satisfactory," she said.
Shot putter Li's winning 18.12-meter throw came on the first of her five attempts. Japan's Yoko Toyonaga was second with a personal best of 16.89.
High jumper Jing was perfect up to 1.85 meters but failed to clear 1.90 three times. But she still edged compatriot Zheng Xingjuan on a countback and Japan's Mai Yonezu was third.
Elsewhere, the prospect of China winning the coveted basketball title was only enhanced in a 81-54 win over Mongolia, extending its sequence to 4-0.
NBA prospect Yi Jianlian had only 10 minutes on the court Tuesday, scoring nine points.
In other basketball preliminaries, South Korea thrashed Hong Kong 104-50 and Taiwan -- which went within three points of China in its previous match -- beat Macau 91-57.
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
AGING WELL: Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, 22, was sent packing after being dispatched by world No. 97, Laura Siegemund, the second-oldest player in the draw at 36 Novak Djokovic yesterday created a slice of Grand Slam history on his way into the Australian Open third round, but last year’s women’s finalist Zheng Qinwen was knocked out in the biggest shock so far. Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, in-form Coco Gauff, two-time Melbourne winner Naomi Osaka and a rampant Carlos Alcaraz were all victors on a rainy day four. Play was suspended on the outside courts for a couple of hours in the early evening because of the wet weather. That led to the rescheduling of a women’s doubles match between wild-cards Tsao Chia-yi of Taiwan and Thailand’s Peangtarn Plipuech and 11th
RSS