HANGZHOU, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) — Chinese swimmers and Wushu athletes claimed 5 gold medals every, main a 14-gold rush for the hosts on the nineteenth Asian Games right here on Thursday.
The Chinese swimmers as soon as once more dominated the pool, securing 5 out of the seven gold medals obtainable. In complete, the Chinese swimming staff has collected 24 gold medals, the most important share of the 90 gold medals gained by the hosts as of Thursday.
China’s swimming sensation, Qin Haiyang, powered his option to the 200m breaststroke gold medal, including to his 100m crown. Qin, the primary swimmer in historical past to brush three breaststroke gold medals in a single World Championships final July, goals to repeat the feat on the Asian Games. Qin set a Games document with a time of two minutes and seven.03 seconds for the gold, although it fell wanting his world document of two:05.48 set on the Fukuoka worlds in July.
“I was hoping to swim under 2:07. I wasn’t far off, but I guess this means I still relaxed a little,” stated the 24-year-old, who will compete within the 50m breaststroke on Friday.
Zhang Yufei was one other star within the pool, showcasing her versatility by setting a Games document of 24.26 seconds and clinching a gold medal within the girls’s 50m freestyle, along with her two butterfly titles.
Ye Shiwen, the London Olympic gold medalist, secured the ladies’s 200m breaststroke with a time of two:23.84. “The result did not meet my expectations, so I don’t believe I have reached my peak yet,” stated Ye, who gained two gold medals in London on the age of 16.
China additionally claimed titles within the males’s 4x100m freestyle relay and girls’s 4x200m freestyle relay.
Earlier on the day, Chinese Wushu athletes achieved 5 gold medals in sanda occasions, primarily on the expense of rivals from Iran. In the ladies’s 52kg ultimate, Li Yueyao defeated Iran’s Elaheh Mansoryan Samiroumi, who had misplaced to a Chinese competitor in a gold medal match for the third consecutive time on the Asian Games. In the boys’s 70kg ultimate, He Feng initially misplaced the primary spherical however rallied to defeat Mohsen Mohammadseifi from Iran, whereas Shoja Panahigelehkolaei, additionally an athlete from Iran, was outclassed by Wang Xuetao within the males’s 60kg ultimate.
“I was almost ready to retire after the Asian Games in 2018, but it’s significant to hold the Games at home, and I don’t want to miss it,” stated the 28-year-old Li. “Getting prepared for an event like this is challenging for a veteran player like me, but I never give up.”
Chinese Wushu athletes additionally secured golds within the girls’s 60kg and males’s 56kg occasions.
An Chang Ok of DPR Korea stole the present on the primary day of gymnastics equipment finals, incomes gold in each girls’s occasions – the vault and the uneven bars. An scored 14.049 factors within the vault with an unparalleled problem rating of 5.6 for her second routine. Her teammate, Kim Son Hyang, secured the silver with 13.600, and China’s Yu Linmin took the bronze with 13.533.
The 48-year-old legend Oksana Chusovitina of Uzbekistan narrowly missed out on the rostrum, ending fourth with 13.383 factors. She expressed her willpower to proceed coaching and vie for a spot on the Paris Olympics.
The 20-year-old An then maintained her composure on the uneven bars, securing her second gold with a rating of 14.266. Despite earlier victories in staff and all-around particular person occasions, the host gymnasts didn’t carry their momentum onto the apparatuses, with solely Lan Xingyu profitable the boys’s rings title on Thursday.
China additionally secured gold medals in seashore volleyball, fencing, and taekwondo, main the medal desk with 90 gold, 51 silver, and 26 bronze medals. South Korea was in second place with 24 golds, and Japan got here in third with 18.