Wu Peng surged past Japan's Ryuichi Shibata on the final lap of the men's 200m butterfly to help give China five of six gold medals on the opening day of the Asian Games swimming competition on Saturday.
Zhou Yafei defended her title in the 100m butterfly, while Pang Jiaying took gold in the 200m freestyle and Ji Liping won the 50m breaststroke. The results emphatically announced China's return to swimming strength after a series of low-key showings in recent competitions.
Japan won the other gold medal of the night in the men's 400m individual medley -- China did not enter a swimmer in that event. Hidemasa Sano won in 4 minutes, 16.18 seconds from countryman Shinya Taniguchi and South Korea's Han Kyu-chul.
PHOTO: AFP
Wu had lagged behind Shibata after 150m, but then accelerated dramatically, urged on by an enthusiastic Chinese cheering section at the Hamad Aquatic Center.
"I've raced Ryuichi Shibata a lot and I know that he's world-class over 150m, so I knew it was OK to lag a bit as long as I turned it on at the last," said Wu, who finished in 1:54.91.
"I have been concentrating on my last 50m and I knew that if I did not trail too much with 50 to go, I could win. I am very, very happy," he said.
Wu won both the 200 butterfly and 200 backstroke at the last Asian Games in Busan, South Korea, at a time when he said he felt little pressure.
"Four years ago, I'd just hit the circuit and I really didn't feel much pressure. It was almost an accident that I'd won," he said.
"This time I really needed to focus and I feel I got the result I deserved," said Wu, who dropped out of the 400m butterfly to focus on the 200m this time.
Shibata ended third at 1:56.44, behind Japan's Takeshi Matsuda, 1:55.49.
Zhou led a Chinese sweep in the women's 100m butterfly, finishing in 58.39 seconds, followed by Xu Yanwei, 58.73, and Tao Li, 58.96.
Ji won in 31.52, followed by Japan's Asami Kitagawa, 32.27, and China's Wang Qun.
Wang, a 14-year-old who last year upset China's Olympic gold medalist Luo Xuejuan in the 100 breaststroke at the East Asian Games, said she was disappointed in finishing more than a second off her personal best.
"It may just be a touch of fatigue. I'm going to keep working hard for the 100m breaststroke," Wang said.
The women's 200m freestyle was a Chinese one-two, with Pang Jiaying taking gold in 1:59.26, followed by Yang Yu at 2:00.73. Japan's Maki Mita was third in 2:00.78.
Pang and Zhou also joined Luo Nan and Zhao Jing to win the women's 400m medley relay.
China won 20 swimming golds at the last Asian Games, but none at the Pan Pacific championships in August. They had been similarly shut out at last year's world championships in Montreal, earning just five medals, none of them gold.
At both of those meets, China didn't field its strongest team, causing some observers to speculate as to why China was keeping its top swimmers out of competition. The taint of the 1990s, when 32 Chinese swimmers were caught for doping offenses, still hangs over the program.
Asked whether he thought Saturday's results meant the Chinese swimmers would sweep away the competition, Shibata said: "I don't think so."
However, teammate Matsuda was more circumspect.
"Clearly we are a team that has some work to do," he said. "We're going to have to push hard."
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to