The late Chinese leader Mao Zedong had envisioned a China in
which women would hold up half the sky. Well, in sports, Chinese
women have superseded this vision.
China garnered 17 gold medals on the penultimate day of the Asian Games yesterday, raising its total to
164, sweeping past the Busan target of 150. Among the Chinese gold
tally, 93 came from women and 71 from men.
Chinese men have long been overshadowed by women in the Asian
Games and Olympics. Among a total of 112 Olympic golds won by
China, women have won 66 against men's 44, the largest margin
coming at the 2004 Athens Games, in which Chinese women swept 20.5
golds opposed to men's 11.5.
This is a reverse trend among China's closest rivals. South
Korea's men lead over women 38-20 in its gold count in Doha with
the Japanese men having a 31-19 advantage.
"China attaches the same importance to the men's and women's
sports, while many other countries and regions are tilted to men's
sports," said Cui Dalin, a deputy chef-de-mission of the
Chinese Asian Games delegation.
"Diligence of Chinese women is another reason for their sporting
success," he added.
Women rider Li Yan started China's gold haul of the day, winning
the points race to give the country its fourth track cycling gold
of the Games.
Li edged out individual pursuit champion Lee Min-hye of South
Korea by a single point over the 100-lap, 10-sprint race.
South Korea made up for the loss by bagging the men's Madison
and Keirin titles, although it still trailed China?three to
four in the cycling gold table.
Fresh from her victory in the women's tennis singles, Chinese
star Zheng Jie paired with Yan Zi to beat Chinese Taipei's Chan
Yung-jan and Chuang Chia-jung 6-1, 7-6 for the women's doubles
crown.
The Games' last tennis gold went to Thailand's Danai Udomchoke,
who beat South Korean Lee Hyung-taik 7-5, 6-3 in the men's singles
final.
Chinese women's hoopsters lived up to their billing as Asia's
No.1 team, obliterating Chinese Taipei 90-59 in the final.
Chinese wushu masters, holding up their tradition,
swept eight titles and missed only one -- the men's 52kg division
sanshou, won by Sornito Rene Catalan from the
Philippines.
In canoe/kayak, China paddled away with three golds in the men's
K1 500m (Liu Haitao), the men's C1 500m (Yang Wenjun) and the
women's K2 500m (Zhu Mingyuan/Yu Lamei).
Central Asia showed its skill at the sport as Kazakhstan claimed
two golds in the men's K2 500m and C2 500m and Uzbekistan took one
from the women's K1 500m.
Chinese divers completed a 10-gold clean sweep after Lin Yue and
Wang Xin won the men's and women's 10m platform respectively
yesterday.
China claimed its first Asian Games water polo gold since 1990
as it edged out Japan 9-8 after trailing through most of the
final.
While Japan failed in its bid to win the water polo for the
first time in 36 years, its women's softball team trounced Chinese
Taipei 7-0 in the final.
Japan, which lagged behind South Korea 49 to 51 in Wednesday's
gold standings, saw its gap enlarged after its arch rival scooped
seven golds for the day to lead 58-50.
South Korea, which has placed second behind China four times in
the past five Games, has secured its runner-up position with only
two golds up for grabs on the last day of the Games.
South Korea walked away with two fencing titles, nipping the
Chinese in both the men's epee and women's foil team events.
Baek Jin-kuk won South Korea's fifth wrestling title as he
snatched a 66kg class freestyle win over Japanese Takafumi
Kojima.
Uzbekistan's wrestlers took home two golds with Iran sneaking
one in.
As China ran away on the medal table, South Korea dealt two
heavy blows to the Asian sporting superpower.
After beating China 3-1 to win the men's hockey, South Korea
disposed of the Chinese men's volleyball team 25-18, 22-25,
25-18,25-16 last night.
The triumphant South Korean team will reportedly pick up a
US$100,000 check from their federation as a reward.
The United Arab Emirates swept the individual and team golds in
the equestrian endurance.
Qatar's overspending in the Asian Games was not rewarded with a
gold rush. Six golds won by Qatar so far do not match up with the
US$2.8 billion price tag hung on the largest and most expensive
Asian Games ever.
Kuwait denied Qatar a men's handball gold, winning the final
27-24.
The hosts will crack last shots at gold in today's men's
basketball and soccer finals, where they will face China and Iran
respectively.
(Xinhua News Agency December 15, 2006)
