Tokyo, Sept. 24 (SANA) China won 16 gold medals at the Asian Games on Wednesday, powered by six victories in the pool and team titles in both men’s and women’s artistic gymnastics, Chinese CTGN reported.
Swimmer Zhang Zhanshuo led China’s charge by winning the men’s 200-meter freestyle in an Asian record of 1 minute, 43.49 seconds. South Korea’s Hwang Sun-woo took silver and Japan’s Tatsuya Murasa bronze.
The 19-year-old Zhang had already won the 1,500-meter freestyle and helped China claim gold in the 4×200-meter freestyle and 4×100-meter medley relays.
Teenager Yu Zidi completed a sweep of her three individual events by winning the women’s 400-meter individual medley in a Games record of 4:28.56.
The 13-year-old led from the opening leg and finished 3.95 seconds ahead of Chinese teammate Ke Wenxi.
Six swimming golds
Yu Yiting edged defending champion Zhang Yufei by 0.03 seconds to win the women’s 100-meter butterfly in 56.41 seconds.
Peng Xuwei won the women’s 100-meter backstroke in 59.30 seconds, beating Japan’s Rio Shirai and South Korea’s Kim Seungwon.
Tang Qianting added another Chinese victory in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke, setting a Games record of 1:04.98.
China extends gymnastics dominance
China also retained the women’s artistic gymnastics team title for a 14th consecutive Asian Games, while its men’s team successfully defended its crown for a third straight edition.
Ke Qinqin, Zhang Yihan, Du Siyu, Zhang Qingying and Qiu Qiyuan trailed Japan by 1.9 points after the women’s vault but moved into the lead following the uneven bars.
China extended its advantage on the balance beam, where Zhang Qingying recorded the highest score, before finishing strongly on the floor to win with 166.462 points. Japan took silver and North Korea bronze.
In the men’s competition, Zhang Boheng, Lan Xingyu, Zou Jingyuan, Sun Wei and Tian Hao combined for 255.095 points, finishing 1.269 points ahead of Japan. Chinese Taipei took bronze.
China’s swimming and gymnastics victories formed part of a 16-gold haul for the country on Wednesday.
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