Hagino upstages Sun, Park to take 200 free
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail Xinhua, September 21, 2014
|
|
|
Sun Yang (left) and Park Tae-hwan shake hands after the final. |
Japanese swimmer Kosuke Hagino stole the spotlight from superstars Sun Yang and Park Tae-hwan when he outclassed the Olympic champion duo to win the men's 200m freestyle final at the Asian Games on Sunday.
In one of the most anticipated showdowns at the Asiad, Hagino touched home in one minute 45.23 seconds, edging Sun into second place by just 0.05 seconds. Park took bronze in 1:45.85, missing out on a hat-trick of Asian Games title in the distance.
"It was disappointing in many aspects. The pressure was one part, and it's true that I was tired. The last 20 seconds were especially regretful," said Park.
Sun slowed down in the last few meters as the trio headed to the finish neck-and-neck. The 22-year-old blamed his defeat on a hand injury.
"My hand hurt towards the end, so I couldn't speed up. I was too focused on the race that it distracted me. I was aware of Park too much, so I was not able to see Hagino," said Sun.
Just minutes after his shock victory in the 100m freestyle, Hagino, who has vowed to win six gold medals in Incheon, raced again to take bronze in the 100m backstroke, which was won by his compatriot Irie Ryosuke.
Daiya Seto made it three gold medals for Japan's men on the opening day of swimming action with a victory in the 200m butterfly in 1:54.08, 1.39 seconds ahead of countryman Kenta Hira. Joseph Schooling came third to snatch a rare medal for Singapore in the pool.
China matched Japan with a clean sweep of gold medals contested in women's events.
Zhang Yuhan clocked 4:07.67 to lead Bi Yirong finish 1-2 for China in the women's 40m freestyle final, while Shi Jinglin set a new Games record of 1:06.67 to win the 100m breaststroke. The Chinese foursome of Qiu Yuhan, Chen Xinyi, Sun Meichen and Zhou Yilin won the women's 4x100m freestyle relay in a time of 3:37.25.
China clinched four gold medals in shooting, cycling and Wushu to boost its haul to 12 by the end of the second day. South Korea also has 12 gold medals, but its 31 medals lags behind China's 32. Japan is third in the medals table with 26 medals, including seven gold.
Four more world records fell in weightlifting on Sunday, after DPR Korea's Om Yun-chol broke his own world mark in the men's 56kg class in the opening day.
Kim Un-guk of the DPR Korea broke three world records en route to taking gold in the men's 62kg. He snatched 154kg and lifted 178kg in the clean and jerk to smash his own mark of 327kg.
In the women's 53kg category, Chinese Taipei's Hsu Shu Ching set the new record with a combined total of 233kg, 2kg more than the previous mark, while Kazakhstan's Zulfiya Chinshanlo eclipsed the world record in the clean and jerk by 1kg with a 123kg lift.
Hsu's gold was Chinese Taipei's first at these Games. "I am so happy. I never dreamed of breaking the record, even in training practice I never lifted that much (clean and jerk)," said Hsu.
Hong Kong of China also picked up its first gold in Incheon, through Olympic medal-winning cyclist Sarah Lee Wai-sze in the women's keirin event.
Elsewhere, three judo athletes representing the United Arab Emirates here have been kicked out of the games for violating the Olympic Council of Asia's three-year residency rule for naturalized citizens.
A total of 27 gold medals are up for grabs on Monday.
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)