Nagoya, Japan: China has continued its dominance of the Asian Games, leading the medal table by a wide margin midway through the two-week competition.

Through Saturday, China had won 107 gold medals, compared with 31 for second-placed Japan. China also led the overall medal count with 176 medals, ahead of Japan's 129.

The Games have attracted at least 11,000 athletes, exceeding the number who competed at the Paris Olympics in 2024.

At the other end of the medal table, Bangladesh, Brunei, Mongolia and Syria had each won just one bronze medal, while several countries were yet to secure a medal.

Swimming dominated the opening week of competition, with China winning 30 gold medals in the pool.

Chinese swimmer Zhang Zhanshuo claimed seven gold medals, winning the 200m, 400m, 800m and 1,500m freestyle events, as well as three relay titles.

Fellow Chinese swimmer Yu Zidi, aged 13, won three gold medals in the 200m butterfly and the 200m and 400m individual medleys.

The only swimming world record of the Games so far came from Japan's Shin Ohashi, who set a new mark in the 200m breaststroke with a time of 2:04.83.

The Games have also been marked by organisational difficulties.

Athletes and officials have been accommodated on a cruise ship, in hotels and in temporary wooden huts after organisers opted not to build a dedicated athletes' village.

Complaints have included beds being too short, leaking roofs and room allocation errors.

Attendance has been sparse at some venues, while transportation challenges have been reported, particularly at venues located far from Nagoya.

Organising committee Secretary-General Satoshi Murate apologised for the issues, acknowledging mistakes in accommodation and transport arrangements.

The organisers also faced criticism after the North Korean national anthem was mistakenly played during a men's field hockey match between South Korea and Bangladesh.

The Asian Games programme includes both traditional Olympic sports and regional disciplines such as kabaddi, sepaktakraw, kurash, jiu-jitsu, padel, soft tennis, teqball and wushu.

Esports are appearing in the Asian Games for the second time, while mixed martial arts has been included for the first time.