China secures Games medal top spot
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-05 14:13

Feng Yun and Olympic gold medalist Xing Huina ended Japan's challenge on the track Friday, then China turned its focus back to usurping its old rival's status in the pool.

China's Feng Yun sprints to victory Friday in the 100-meter hurdles. [AP]

China won seven of eight swimming finals on day seven at the East Asian Games, matching its sequence of the previous night.

With 20 gold medals to Japan's five in the pool, the Chinese are clearly on top. And the domination isn't restricted to swimming. Across all sports after seven days, China had 101 gold medals with Japan and South Korea, its nearest challengers, on 26 apiece.

At the Athens Olympics, Japan finished third in swimming with eight medals -- placing behind only the United States and Australia.

China had one swimming gold medal in Athens and none in the latest world championships at Montreal.

The Chinese have been far superior to Japan at the Macau Olympic Aquatic Center, although Wu Peng, who edged two Japanese to win the 400 medley in 4:20.50, said the lopsided medal tally wasn't a true reflection of the regional strength.

"The athletes from Japan are not the best they have to offer, and the results show that," he said.

Daisuke Kimura is one Japanese swimmer who prospered in the absence of an Olympian -- in his case double Athens champion Kosuke Kitajima.

Kimura snapped China's five-race golden sequence by winning the 200 breaststroke on Friday in 2:14.67 from China's Xue Ruipeng (2:16.18).

"This is my first title since my third year of high school," said the 24-year-old Kimura.

In other swimming, Zhou Yafei turned the tables on Xu Yanwei, claiming the women's 100 butterfly in a games record 58.43. Xu had broken Zhou's Asian record to win the 50 'fly the previous night.

"This is the best result of my career, better than the national games," said Zhou. "I've really been putting in the hard work, and it's just paid off."

Ouyong Kunpeng earned his second gold of the meet when he won the 50 backstroke in an Asian record 25.18, taking 0.35 off the continental mark he already owned.

Japan started Friday with a mathematical chance of finishing atop the athletics standings -- having 14 gold medals to China's 21 and with eight finals on the program.

It took Feng all of 13.09 seconds to ensure China held onto No. 1 ranking, her winning time in the women's hurdles.

Olympic 10,000-meter champion Xing won the women's 5,000 meters and Zhang Qi won the shot put as China swept the first three track finals.

China finished with 26 gold on the track to Japan's 15.

Yuki Makamura completed a distance double here by winning the 5,000 meters in 14:05.77 from Japanese teammate Tomohiro Seto, while South Korea's Kim Deok-hyeon won the men's triple jump at 16.79 meters to interrupt China's winning sequence on the track.

Hiroshi Ishizuka, a coach with the Japan track team, said China's dominance was a reflection of government funding, making it hard to compete.

"They have a big budget for sports in China. In Japan the support system is from companies, and in China it's a national system," Ishizuka told reporters.

South Korea's move into second place during the afternoon coincided with its men's basketball team beating Japan 78-62. The win meant South Korea will avoid the strong China team in the semifinals. Japan meets Taiwan in the semis.

China edged Japan 72-69 in a women's semifinal, advancing to a basketball decider against unbeaten Taiwan.

Wang Yeu-tzuoo outclassed Japan's Toshihide Matsui 6-1, 6-1 in the men's singles final, helping Taiwan claim four of the five tennis titles.

That helped Taiwan edge ahead of host Macau for fourth place. Both have nine gold medals apiece, with Taiwan having more overall.

Hong Kong collected its second gold medal of the games when shooter Wong Fai won the 25-meter standard pistol final from North Korea's Kim Jong Su. It took Guam almost seven days to notch its first medal, with Janie Quenga taking bronze in the women's heavyweight taekwondo.

On Saturday, North and South Korea meet in a soccer semifinal here, the first major head-to-head contest since both nations agreed to form a single team for the 2006 Asian Games and the 2008 Olympics.