|
Japan’s Kosuke Hagino gatecrashed the much-hyped showdown between Olympic champions Sun Yang and Park Tae-hwan to win the 200 metres freestyle gold at the Asian Games yesterday, while four more weightlifting world records fell on the second day of competition in Incheon. |
A day after North Korean Om Yun Chol lifted more than three times his bodyweight to break the world clean and jerk record, compatriot and fellow Olympic champion Kim Un Guk set new marks in the snatch and total lift to win gold in the 62kg category.
“This is something that all athletes wish for in weightlifting,” said the triumphant Kim. “I already broke the world record at the London Olympic Games. I also broke the world record here so I am happy.”
Kazakh and Taiwanese lifters also set world records in the women’s 53kg event as Asian weightlifters proved they will be hard to beat at the Summer Olympics in two years’ time.
South Korean sharpshooter Kim Cheong-yong will only be 19 when Rio rolls around and who knows how many titles the high school student will have accumulated by then.
Kim has idolised Olympic champion Jin Jong-oh since first picking up a pistol in middle school, but yesterday that sentiment was shot to pieces as the 17-year-old won 10m air pistol gold.
Despite proving the sharpest shot in Incheon, Kim, who along with Jin and Lee Dae-myung also won gold in the team event yesterday, said his mentor still had so much to teach him.
“There are so many things to learn from him. As shooting is not done so much by your physicality as it is by your mind, he gave me much precious advice,” added Kim, who won a silver at the recent Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing.
A springboard to success for many of the region’s emerging athletes, the Asian Games witnessed the emergence of Chinese stars Sun Yang and Yi Shiwen in Guangzhou four years ago and on Sunday another young swimmer made a huge splash.
The 20-year-old Hagino has surfaced as the new rising star of a powerful Japanese men’s swim team that won six gold medals at the Pan Pacific Championships in Australia last month.
While South Korean and Chinese media focused squarely on the clash between Sun and Park, Hagino slipped under the radar and steamed past his two big rivals to win gold.
The win was no fluke. Hagino took down Olympic great Michael Phelps in Australia last month and all signs point to a career filled with world and Olympic titles.
“I cannot say I have gained a lot of confidence by winning today but I will continue this momentum for the remaining games,” said the 20-year-old Japanese student.
Sun and Park both had their excuses. China’s 400 and 1,500 Olympic champion said he had a sore thumb, while South Korean Park, who won gold in Beijing, said he had struggled under the weight of expectation.
“They are both great swimmers. Just being able to compete with them meant a lot to me,” said the gracious Hagino.
Japan’s Daiya Seto proved the class act of the men’s 200m butterfly, Ryosuke Irie roared to gold in the men’s 100m backstroke, while China’s women also won three golds at the Munhak Park Tae-hwan Aquatics Center.
Zhang Yuhan touched first in the 400m freestyle, Shi Jinglin won the 100m breaststroke and Yi Shiwen led her team to gold in the 4x100 freestyle relay.
At the end of the second day of competition, China are tied with South Korea on 12 golds, with Japan in third place on seven.
While the big guns of Northeast Asia battled it out at the top of the medal standings, yesterday was also a day when some of the lesser lights had a chance to shine, with Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Kuwait hitting the medals mark.