China Sweeps Swimming Golds in 2nd Day of Games

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, October 02, 2002

China Sweeps Swimming Golds in 2nd Day of Games

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Chinese swimmers Tuesday swept all the five golds on offer on the second full day of competitions at the Asian Games, presenting a gift to the celebration of the founding of the People's Republic of China 53 years ago.

Qi Hui, women's 100 meters breaststroke world record holder, won the women's 200 meters individual medley in two minutes 13.94 seconds. Her teammate Zhou Yafei claimed the silver and Maiko Fujino of Japan got the bronze.

In women's 100 meters breaststroke, Luo Xuejuan of China powered to the line in a time of 1:06.84, breaking her own Asian record of 1:06.96 set at the National Games of China last year in Guangzhou. Qi Hui got the silver in 1:08.35, and Junko Isoda of Japan placed the third in 1:10.42.

Chinese men swimmers gave Asia surprises as Liu Yu edged his Japanese rival Yoshihiro Okumura by only 0.07 seconds in men's 200meters freestyle, grabbing the first gold for Chinese male swimmers at the games. Following his victory, the 15-year-old Wu Peng from Zhejiang province captured another gold in the men's 200meters butterfly.

Both boys met similar situations as the victory could not been seen till the last second. Liu clocked 1:49.29, beating off the well-known Japanese swimmer Okumura by 0.07 seconds while Wu defeated Takashi Yamamoto of Japan by 0.55 seconds with a strong finish.

The two golds were actually beyond the expectation of the Chinese swimming team as Liu and Wu placed fourth and third in the heats on Tuesday morning, and Japan has obvious advantage in these two events in history.

But Liu said, "I am not surprised with the results and the title. I have been training very hard for the occasion for more than six months."

After the games, Yamamoto said of Wu that "I am shocked that Wu is so young. He will be improved in the coming years and have greater achievements. I have never heard of him before."

In the most scrappy meet of the day, the women's 4X200 meters freestyle relay, Chinese foursome clocked 7:58.46, bettering the old games mark of 8:08.00 set by Chinese team in Bangkok by nearly10 seconds.

Japanese team finished second in a time of 8:02.76, and South Korean team placed third in 8:19.62.

Chinese quartet, Zhu Yingwen, Tang Jingzhi, Xu Yanwei and Yang Yu locked the leading position throughout the game. Yang Yu and XuYanwei were Monday's the gold and silver medalist in women's 200 meters freestyle individual.

Pakistani team finished the last but was got the hottest applause from the audience as this was the first appearance of Pakistani girls in swimming events at the Asian Games.

The first and only synchronized swimming gold medal on offer Tuesday was taken by Japanese Miya Tachibana who totalled 97.667 points.

Tachibana distinguished herself by clean-cut moves and mighty dancing. Her performance conquered both the audience and all the judges, each of whom gave her nearly a full mark.

Jang Yoon-Kyung of South Korea won the silver with 94.750 points. Li Zhen of China got the bronze with 94.251 points.

Tachibana will also compete in Wednesday's pair competition, teamed with her partner Miho Takeda in the duet final. The pair was the gold medalist at Fukuoka World Swimming Championships last year and the silver medalists at Sydney Olympic Games.

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