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 Ye Shiwen of China competes in the women's 400m individual medley final in the swimming event of the Asian Games in Guangzhou on Sunday. The 14-year-old Ye won gold, one of 18 claimed by the host nation on Sunday. Peter Parks / Agence France-Presse |
GUANGZHOU - The Republic of Korea (ROK) swimming superstar Park Tae-hwan powered back to his best at the Asian Games on Sunday, but China dominated once again with another 18 gold medals.
Li snatched 103kg to beat the previous best of 102kg set by Ri Song-hui of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) at the 2002 Busan Asiad.
The 22-year-old's best clean and jerk of 127kg was enough to see her rack up a combined total of 230kg to break the previous aggregate best of 226kg set by compatriot Qiu Hongxia in October 2006.
The records complete a hat-trick for Li, who already held the world record for the clean and jerk of 129kg set in April 2007.
Kazakh teenager Chinshanio Zulfiya, the 2009 world champion, took silver with Olympic champion Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon of Thailand claiming bronze.
Li's victory helped the Chinese juggernaut rumble on from where it left off on the opening day.
It now tops the medal table with 37 gold, ahead of South Korea (13) and Japan (8). Macao won its first gold medal ever, in wushu.
The host dominated dance sport, collected five of the six titles in the pool and also tasted success in wushu, track cycling, canoe/kayak and gymnastics.
But it wasn't all one-way traffic with Park winning his nation's first gold in the pool, breaking his own Asian record in the 200m freestyle.
The Olympic 400m freestyle gold medalist never looked troubled, touching in 1:44.80 to shave 0.05sec off his own record set in 2008.
China's Sun Yang, ranked No 1 in the world in the men's 1,500m freestyle, finished second in 1:46.25, with Japan's Takeshi Matsuda taking the bronze in 1:47.73.
"I'm satisfied with the performance because I broke my record," said a clearly overjoyed Park, who won three gold, a silver and three bronze medals at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha.
"China is a special place for me. I did well at the Beijing Olympics and tonight I won a gold medal, my first Guangzhou Asian Games gold."
But China again set the standard, discovering a new star in 14-year-old Ye Shiwen, who announced her arrival by streaking clear to win the women's 400m individual medley.
The teenager touched in 4:33.79, more than four seconds clear of better-known compatriot, Li Xuanxu, with Chinese Taipei's Cheng Wan-jung taking bronze.
"This is the first time that I have won a gold medal at such a big event, so it means a lot to me and a lot to my family," she said.
Japan had a lean day but did win the men's triathlon when Yuichi Hosoda completed the 1.5km swim, 40km bike race and 10km run in 1hr 52min 13sec.
It was the Koreans who came good on the shooting ranges, winning four out of four gold, including two by eight-months pregnant Gim Yun-mi.
It also captured the imagination on the cycling track, with Jang Sun-jae winning his fourth Asian Games career title.
Agence France-Presse
(China Daily 11/15/2010 page10)
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