GUANGZHOU: China scored a golden table tennis treble at the Asian Games on Friday, winning the men’s, women’s and mixed doubles. Men’s top seeds Wang Hao and Zhang Jike claimed their title after an almighty battle with teammates and second seeds Ma Lin and Xu Xin, eventually coming through 11-2, 12-10, 10-12, 9-11, 11-5, 11-3.
In the women’s event, Guo Yue and Li Xiaoxia made a minor piece of history by becoming the first pair to ever defend a doubles title when they toppled fellow Chinese Ding Ning and Liu Shiwen 11-5, 11-7, 11-6, 11-9.
Xu Xin and Guo Yan won the mixed doubles, overcoming determined Hong Kong pair Chueng Yuk and Jiang Huajun with a gruelling 15-13, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8, 11-3 victory.
Rock solid Japan, South Korea into semi-finals: Keigi Higashi’s 45th-minute goal gave Japan a 1-0 win over Thailand and a spot in the Asian Games semi-finals on Friday where they were joined by fellow regional power South Korea.
The 20-year-old Higashi struck just before half-time, slotting the ball home from close range and past goalkeeper Samuel Cunningham.
Japan, top scorers in the tournament with 14 goals, will now face four-time champions Iran, who defeated Oman 1-0.
South Korea were forced to extra-time before seeing off 10-man Uzbekistan 3-1 in their quarter-final and will now tackle the United Arab Emirates for a place in the gold medal match.
Hong Jeong-Ho put South Korea in front after just two minutes, but Sherzodbek Karimov pounced on a mistake by left-back Shin Kwang-Hoon in the 71st minute to equalise.
Uzbekistan played the last 30 minutes of the game with 10 men after star striker Ivan Nagaev was sent-off.
The UAE defeated North Korea 9-8 in a penalty shootout after the two sides had battled to a 0-0 draw after extra-time. Ri Chol-Myong had his penalty kick saved by Ali Housani in the UAE goal before Mohamed Al Shehhi tucked away his spotkick to send the Gulf side into the semi-finals.
South Korea, Malaysia
muscle their way to top: Defending champions South Korea joined Malaysia on the top of group A in the Asian Games men’s field hockey with impressive wins on Friday.
The Koreans, seeking a hat-trick of titles, fought back after conceding an early goal to breeze past hosts China 3-1 at the Aoti Hockey Centre.
Malaysia overcame the stress of playing on successive days to whip lowly Oman 12-2 with Azlan Misron slamming a hat-trick.
Both South Korea and Malaysia have seven points from three games, one more than China, to throw open the race for the two semi-final spots from the group.
South Korea beats Taiwan for Asian baseball gold: South Korean slugger Kang Jung-Ho hit a pair of two-run homers Friday as his team knocked off reigning Asian Games champions Taiwan 9-3 in baseball’s gold medal game.
Taiwan starting pitcher Pan Wei-lun gave up six runs on nine hits in the early going as South Korea jumped out to a 2-1 lead after two innings.
In the third frame, South Korean hitters shredded Pan with Lee Dae-Ho knocking a monster solo blast over the left field fence, while Kang delighted the South Korean fans with his first two-run homer of the night.
Jang, ‘Salimi’ crowned Asiad’s strongest: Olympic champion Jang Mi-Ran of South Korea and Iran’s world champion Behdad Salimikordasiabi were crowned the strongest athletes at the 16th Asian Games on Friday.
World record holder Jang and Salimikordasiabi both chalked up victories in the super-heavyweight class, +75kg for women and +105kg for men, on the seventh and final day of Asiad weightlifting action.
Jang, a former four-time world champion who is a superstar in her home country, had notched up two silvers in previous Asiads but was not to be outdone this time around.
The 27-year-old overcame a mediocre snatch to power through the clean and jerk for gold on lighter body weight after a great tussle with up-and-coming Chinese lifter Meng Suping, who added silver to her second place in September’s world championships.
