HANGZHOU: Indonesia’s Rahmat Erwin Abdullah set a weightlifting world record and China’s world-beating teenage divers wowed fans, but their football players crashed out on day 10 of the Asian Games here on Tuesday.

Abdullah secured gold with a lift of 201kg in the men’s 73kg clean and jerk, which beat the previous record of 200kg which he set last December. Thailand’s Weeraphon Wichuman earned silver with 351kg and North Korea’s Oh Kum Thaek took bronze with 344kg

The 22-year-old Abdullah’s lift follows three other world records set by North Korean weightlifters at this Games.

At the climbing wall his compatriot and 2023 world champion Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi, 22, won gold in the women’s speed event ahead of Asian record holder, Deng Lijuan from China, who took silver.

In the men’s event Iran’s Reza Ali Pour Shenazandi Fard, 29, defended the title he won in Jakarta in 2018 after China’s Long Jinbao, 22, fell in the final and so finished with silver.

Dewi’s compatriot, Veddriq Leonardo, 26, who was the pre-competition favourite, could only manage bronze after he too slipped in his semi-final contest with Fard.

In the football competition, China’s women were beaten 4-3 by Japan in a goal-fest of a semi-final, joining the host men’s team who were knocked out on Sunday by South Korea.

China went in 4-1 down at the break after a stinker of a first half. In the second half they pulled two goals back and were pushing for an equaliser at the end.

North Korea meet Japan in the final after beating Uzbekistan 8-0 in the other semi-final.

China’s teenage sensations Quan Hongchan and Chen Yuxi wowed fans as they went head to head in the final of the women’s 10m platform.

Quan, 16, who took gold at the Tokyo Olympics, won with 438.20 points, just under three points ahead of her 18-year-old team mate. Pandelela Rinong Pamg of Malaysia took bronze with 280.5.

In the men’s 3m springboard final China’s multiple world champion Wang Zongyuan, 21, also delighted fans as he comfortably won his second gold of the Games after winning the 1m springboard a day earlier.

In athletics China’s Olympic silver medallist and world bronze medallist triple jumper Zhu Yaming once again underlined his championship pedigree with a 17.13m jump to take gold.

Veteran Svetlana Radzivil was dethroned in the women’s high jump, with her Uzbek team-mate Safina Sadullayeva denying her a fourth straight title.

The hosts also won gold in the men’s and women’s 4x100m relays and the men’s decathlon.

But there was disappointment in the women’s javelin for defending Asian Games and Tokyo Olympic champion, Liu Shiying, who could only manage fifth with a throw of 57.62, nearly 10 metres off her best. India’s Annu Ranni won gold with a season’s best throw of 62.92.

Olga Zabelinskaya, 43, won gold for Uzbekistan in the women’s individual cycling time trial to become the latest Russia-born athlete to top the podium in Hangzhou.

Zabelinskaya finished the 20-kilometre course nearly a minute ahead of

Japan’s Eri Yonamine and Kazakhstan’s Rinata Sultanova.

GOLD AFTER DOPING BAN

Bahrain’s Kemi Adekoya, who was stripped of the 2018 title for doping, won Asian Games 400m hurdles gold.

Adekoya thrust herself back into the spotlight by crossing first in a Games-record 54.45sec to consolidate her strong showing at the Budapest World championships, where she finished fourth.

China’s Mo Jiadie (55.01) took silver and India’s Vithya Ramraj (55.68) bronze.

The 30-year-old Adekoya won at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon after switching allegiance from Nigeria, and again came first at Jakarta four years later.

But she was stripped of her 2018 hurdles and mixed 4x400m relay golds after testing positive for the prohibited steroid stanozolol. She was banned for four years.

Qatar’s defending champion and Asian record holder Abderrahman Alsaleck won the men’s 400m hurdles in 48.04, ahead of teammate Bassem Hemeida and China’s Xie Zhiyu.

Tokyo Olympic runner-up Zhu soared to 17.13m in claiming the triple jump honours, making up for narrowly missing the medals in Budapest. Team-mate Fang Yaoqing won silver and India’s Praveen Chithravel bronze.

Parul Chaudhary took home the women’s 5,000m gold in 15:14.75, catching Japan’s fast-fading Ririka Hironaka in the last 10 metres, adding to the silver she won in the 3,000m steeplechase on Monday behind world champion Winfred Yavi.

Saudi Arabia’s Essa AliKzwani clinched the men’s 800m title in 1:48.05 while China’s Sun Qihao became decathlon champion.

In boxing, China’s Wu Yu comfortably won the women’s flyweight (50kg) gold.

Wu barely broke sweat and her face was completely unmarked after her victory against Thailand’s Chuthamat Raksat. All five judges scored it 30-27 in favour of the Chinese.

Mongolia’s Yesugen Oyuntsetseg and Zareen Nikhat of India won the bronzes.

SCOREBOARD

(tabulated under gold, silver, bronze, total):

China 161 90 46 297

Japan 33 47 50 130

South Korea 32 42 65 139

India 15 26 28 69

Uzbekistan 14 15 21 50

Taiwan 12 10 18 40

Thailand 10 11 19 40

North Korea 7 10 6 23

Bahrain 7 1 4 12

Hong Kong 6 15 24 45

Iran 6 14 16 36

Indonesia 6 3 13 22

Kazakhstan 5 10 32 47

Singapore 3 6 4 13

Malaysia 3 4 16 23

Qatar 3 4 2 9

Kuwait 2 3 1 6

Saudi Arabia 2 2 1 5

Tajikistan 2 1 3 6

Vietnam 1 3 14 18

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2023