Japanese swimmer Kosuke Kitajima won another breaststroke race and a Chinese gymnast claimed the all-around title, maintaining the status quo on Monday at the Asian Games.
Kitajima, who won the 100m and 200m breaststroke double at the Athens Olympics, defended his Asian Games title over 100m on Monday in a time of 1 minute, 1.13 seconds, nearly two seconds outside his Asian record.
World champion Yang Wei won the all-around gymnastics title, extending the winning streak for China in that event to eight Asian Games dating back to 1978.
PHOTO: AFP
"I think it was relatively easy for me, I was in a good mood today," Yang said.
He Ning and Zhou Zhuoru finished first and second in the women's competition to continue China's resurgence in a sport it has traditionally dominated in Asia.
Earlier, Olympic champion weightlifter Pawina Thongsuk bettered the clean-and-jerk world record in the 63kg class set by Russian Svetlana Shimkova by 1kg. Pawina lifted 142kg to improve Shimkova's record of 141kg set at Wladyslawowo, Poland earlier this year.
Li Hongli won gold in the men's 77kg class to give China its eighth of a possible nine weightlifting titles contested so far at the games -- Pawina is the only one outside China to grab gold.
China continued to dominate in the standings, picking up nine more gold medals Monday on the third official day of competition. It has 38 golds, 69 overall and is well on its way to matching its total of 150 golds from 2002.
South Korea's impressive equestrian record continued when it won the team dressage event for the fourth time in the last five games.
Team member Suh Jung-kyun's gold was his sixth at the Asian Games in his career. He had previously won gold medals in 1986 and 1998 -- both team and individual -- and in 2002 (team), making him the most successful rider in the history of the games.
Taiwan stayed on track for a baseball gold medal showdown with Japan. Third baseman Chang Tai-shan and designated hitter Chen Chin-feng hit solo home runs to lead Taiwan to a 4-2 victory over China.
Japan, the World Baseball Classic champion, and Taiwan meet on Thursday in the final round-robin game in the tournament, with the winner to take gold.
"We're relaxed now and not thinking about the game," Taiwan relief pitcher Keng Po-hsuan said of the gold-medal matchup. "But we're good enough to win it all."
Ali Harem won the first medal -- a bronze -- for war-ravaged Iraq in 77kg weightlifting. It was Iraq's first medal at the Asian Games in 20 years.
In the swimming pool the day belonged to Japan as Kosuke Kitajima (men's 100m breaststroke), Yano Yuri (women's 200m butterfly), Ryosuke Irie (men's 200m backstroke) and the men's 4x200m freestyle relay picked up gold.
China's Zhao Jing won the 50m women's backstroke, while Yang Jiegiao took the gold in the 400m women's freestyle.
The final gold medal of the day went to German-born Rafd Almasri, who swims for Syria, who was the surprise winner in the 50m freestyle after defending champion Kim Min-suk had crashed out in the heats.
Off the competition fields, a high-ranking Indian official confirmed that discus thrower Seema Antil failed a doping test conducted by the World Anti-Doping Agency during a team training camp in the leadup to the Asian Games.
Antil, 23, the Commonwealth Games silver medalist, failed a test in Muscat, Oman, and was sent home last week, the official told the press.
The official did not confirm the substance involved or where the sample was sent for validating, but did add that no other Indian athletes had failed tests in Oman.
Antil, who was stripped of her 2000 junior world championships title after testing positive for a banned stimulant, was part of a group of athletes sent to Oman last month to prepare for the Games.
When Paddy Dwyer arrived in China in 1976, crowds jostled to catch a glimpse of him and his companions — the first Western soccer team to play in the country. China was emerging from the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, and on the brink of market reforms that would take the country from economic stagnation to explosive growth. “All we could see was lines of people running beside our bus, trying to look in the windows, to see their first visual of a white person,” he said. “It was all bicycles,” he said. “There were very few cars to be seen.” Dwyer,
Jannik Sinner continued his quest to become the first man in history to win five Masters 1000 tournaments in a row with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Danish qualifier Elmer Moller at the Madrid Open on Sunday. The world leader extended his winning streak to 19 matches, a run that began early March in Indian Wells, and he has captured 24 consecutive victories at the Masters 1000 level, dating back to the Paris Masters last October. Searching for a maiden title at this level on clay, Sinner advanced to the round of 16 at the Caja Magica with a 77-minute performance against
Tennis players are facing an unexpected opponent at the Madrid Open. A stomach virus or food poisoning has affected Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Marin Cilic and others, raising concerns. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka avoided an upset by Naomi Osaka on the court on Monday and said she is trying to avoid illness by sticking to a diet of chicken breasts, rice and salad. The rumor among the players was bad shrimp tacos were to blame. Sabalenka knocked on wood for luck and said, “So far, so good. I heard that I have to avoid those tacos,” she laughed, adding “I stick to the
Some of Clearlake Capital Group’s largest investors are growing increasingly concerned about how much time the company’s co-founders are spending on sports investments as they have struggled to complete the fundraising for the private equity firm’s latest flagship fund. One of Clearlake’s co-founders, Behdad Eghbali, has been spending what some investors described as a disproportionate amount of time on the firm’s investment in Chelsea Football Club in recent months. Now, co-founder Jose E. Feliciano and his wife, Kwanza Jones, are nearing a record US$3.9 billion deal to acquire the San Diego Padres. That personal investment by Feliciano has set off the latest
RSS