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Hosts South Korea were the Asian Games’ surprise first-day medal leaders yesterday but they had to share the limelight with China and record-breaking North Korea. |
South Korea won titles in cycling, fencing, equestrian and wushu to narrowly top the medals table ahead of China as the Olympic-size event rolled into action in Incheon.
They got off to a rocky start when China, led by the unheralded Zhang Menyuang, beat them to the Games’ first gold in the women’s 10 metre air pistol.
North Korea’s Om Yun-Chol set the first world record of the Games when he beat his own clean and jerk best with 170kg in the 56kg class. But victory in the men’s team sprint and men’s epee late in the day took South Korea to five golds, ahead of China on overall medals won.
Yesterday was the start of 15 days of competition involving 9,500 athletes from 45 nations, and with 439 gold medals on offer across 36 different sports. China, who won a record 199 gold medals at the 2010 Games, led the table for most of the day before being caught by South Korea. And China’s Zhong Tianshi rode to victory in the women’s team sprint, a day before she challenges Hong Kong’s Olympic medal-winner Sarah Lee Wai-sze in the keirin.
China’s Zhang is only ranked 29th in the world but after helping win the team 10m air pistol title, she beat South Korea’s hot favourite Jung Jee-Hae into second place.
Chinese coach Wang Yifu said her triumph was doubly impressive as organisers had “deliberately” arranged the 10m air pistol as the first event, hoping for a home victory. “It was hard for us to win this medal,” Wang said.
Injury blow for South Korean vault star
Meanwhile, South Korean Olympic vault champion Yang Hak-Seon is a serious doubt for the Asian Games after suffering a hamstring tear in training which needed hospital treatment.
Yang was only able to complete a few simple moves before being taken for treatment. The injury has worsened over the past few days, his coach said. Team-mate Lee Sang-Wook insisted Yang’s injury was “not that serious”.
“His right hamstring is torn a little bit but he can play,” Lee said. With Park Min-Soo also struggling to recover from a bicep injury, South Korea face an uphill battle in their bid to secure the team gold on home turf.
The men’s team event is scheduled today, meaning Yang has little time to recover full fitness. A damaged hamstring would seriously hamper his ability to pull off his famous “Yang 1” and “Yang 2” moves, which involve three and three-and-a-half mid-air turns.
