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28 March 2024

China take last gold before athletes' farewell

Published
By Reuters

China's women volleyballers clinched the last gold medal at the Guangzhou Asian Games on Saturday as organisers prepared to say farewell to nearly 10,000 athletes under a tight security blanket.

Having already smashed through their 183 gold record at the 1990 Games, the hosts were determined to end the party just as they had begun it, with a relentless march to the podium accompanied by ecstatic cheers from home fans.

Two weeks after Chinese Wushu fighter Yuan Xiaochao snatched the first gold of the Games, China's women came back from a two-set deficit to sink South Korea in the volleyball final.

The title brought the hosts their 199th gold medal, but delegation chiefs said there was still work to be done.

"Although we have a relatively large amount of gold medals, only a few attained world standards and most of them lacked the competitive standard of the Olympics," deputy chef de mission Duan Shijie told reporters.

"The situation in the lead-up to the London Olympics is grim and we cannot rest on our laurels."

Security forces were also on high alert in the centre of Guangzhou, with roads closed off and scores of police gathering at residential compounds near Haixinsha island, the venue of both the opening and closing ceremonies.

"We just wanted to see the venue, but the police and volunteers would not allow visitors," said Pang Bin, a retired 57-year-old, touring Guangzhou with his wife. "So disappointed."

Guangzhou organisers have promised another visual spectacular to say goodbye to the 45 delegations that have participated in the mammoth programme of 42 sports.

Athletes arrived at the water-themed opening ceremony on a flotilla of boats down the Pearl River, but on Saturday they will walk into a glimmering opera house to be entertained by folk and a traditional lion dance.

South Korean pop-singer Rain was also scheduled to perform as part of the handover ceremony for the Games next hosts, Incheon in 2014.

Earlier, Zhou Chunxiu gave China gold in the women's marathon, ahead of team mate Zhu Xiaolin.

The battle for medals in the men's marathon was more heated with gold medallist Ji Young-jun of South Korea and Kenya-born Mubarak Shami of Qatar sniping at each other for a large part of the race.

After Ji ran into Shami's heels, the hot-tempered Qatari cuffed the South Korean on his shoulder and scolded him angrily. "It really upset me ... But I don't think he meant to do it," Shami said.

Military-ruled Myanmar saved their best for last by winning their only two gold medals on the last day in the men's and women's doubles sepaktakraw.

The tight victory over South Korea in the men's final proved too dramatic for team leader Nyan Htun who fainted and was sent to hospital on a stretcher.

"He was shocked ... and just collapsed," head coach Kyaw Zin Moe told Reuters as medics checked his vital signs.

While China's athletes dominated, Japan lost their battle for runner-up bragging rights to South Korea, who managed 76 golds to their rivals' 48 and cut into Japan's traditional strongholds of judo, wrestling and swimming.

"Our results are not good and this is Japan's sporting level in Asia right now. It's painful but we have to recognise that," Japan chef de mission Noriyuki Ichihara said.

Organisers basked in the glow of praise from Olympic Council of Asia president Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah who described the Games as "extraordinary", despite earlier rapping officials over half-full venues and excessive security measures.

"This is the best Games now. And at Doha I was saying that it was the best Games. And I hope that at Incheon we'll say it was the best Games," Sheikh Ahmad told Reuters as he was ushered into a courtesy car.

The OCA President also praised North and South Korean athletes who battled tooth and nail for titles ranging from wrestling to archery amid the worst military flare-up between war-time foes in decades.

"We are very sorry for what is happening between the two Koreas. Here we are sports people and the athletes have participated shoulder to shoulder without any problems in our Asian Games," he said.