ASIAN GAMES China continues gold rush
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The three gold medals in the day's early competition pushed its gold total to 11. Japan had six and other nations still were winless.
Gold medals were to be decided later Tuesday in five swimming races, women's team gymnastics, women's foil fencing, four karate divisions and two more women's weightlifting classes.
The Chinese won all three women's weightlifting golds decided on Monday, setting world record totals in each. They extended the streak Tuesday when Chen Xiaomin, last year's world champion at 54 kilograms, lifted a total of 220 kilograms (484 pounds) in the 59-kilogram class.
That beat the record of 217.5 (478.5 pounds) set at the world championships last November by teammate Sun Caiyan, and was well above the world record of 200 (440 pounds) Chen had set in winning the 54-kilogram class last year. Her 54-kilogram division record, however, had fallen on Monday when teammate Zhang Juhua lifted 202.5 (445.5 pounds).
Thailand's Khassaraporn Suta won the silver medal Tuesday with a total of 207.5 (456.5 pounds), and India's Laxmi Neelam Setti took the bronze with 195 (429 pounds).
In men's 3-meter springboard diving, China's Wang Tianliang edged teammate Yu Zhuocheng, the world champion, for the gold medal thanks to a high-scoring final dive. Wang finished with 709.41 points, Yu had 698.76 and Japan's Chimaki Yasuda was third with 649.53.
China's Chi Bin, silver medalist in the world championships last month, won gold in the women's platform diving. She scored 496.14 to 494.58 by 13-year-old teammate Wang Rui. Natalia Chikina won Kazakhstan's first Asian Games medal, a bronze, with 433.80.
In swimming, the Chinese were in a strong position to win four of Tuesday's five gold medal races.
Japan, however, sped away from other teams in qualifying for the men's 800-meter freestyle relay.
Thailand's Ratapong Sirisanont broke the China-Japan monopoly in the pool by qualifying fastest in the men's 400-meter individual medley. But his time was only one-hundredth of a second ahead of China's Xiong Guoming, winner of the 200-meter freestyle on Monday. In all Monday, the Chinese won three of four swimming races, and added gold in men's team gymnastics and men's foil fencing in addition to its three women's weightlifting golds.
Japan won four golds Monday in its native fighting art of karate, making its games debut here, plus one each in swimming and equestrian team dressage competition.
A total of 337 golds are at stake at the 12th Asiad, which has a field of nearly 5,000 athletes from 42 nations and territories.
