China dominates in pool and water in Day 2 at military games

Niu Yujie of China reacts after the men's 200m super lifesaver of lifesaving at the 7th International Military Sports Council (CISM) Military World Games in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, Oct. 20, 2019. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

WUHAN, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Host China had the second fruitful day at the 7th Military World Games, bagging a total of 14 golds, with six from swimming events here on Sunday.

After the second matchday concluded, China led the medal table with 26 golds, followed by Russia with 10. Brazil jumped to the third place after earning a gold medal from swimming and a sliver from lifesaving.

Rio 2016 bronze medalist Wang Shun unveiled the gold medal haul for China, claiming his second gold in Wuhan in the men's 200m IM with a record time of one minute and 56.25 seconds. Ji Xinjie, who won men's 4X200m freestyle relay together with Wang on Friday, touched home first in 800m freestyle in 7:53.65.

"I feel rather happy and excited because it's the first time I've seen the national flag rise and heard the national anthem play for me," Ji said.

Yang Junxuan and Zhang Yufei, finishing first in women's 200m freestyle (1:56.21) and 100m butterfly (58.59) respectively, contributed in joint efforts to China's win in 4X100m freestyle relay with a time of 3:39.57. Suo Ran triumphed in women's 50m breaststroke in 30.74.

2018 European championships bronze medalist Oleg Kostin of Russia obtained men's 50m butterfly gold in style in 22.84 seconds, 0.94s ahead of runner-up Konrad Czerniak of Poland. Brazil broke the military games record clocking 3:14.36 in men's 4X100m freestyle relay. China had a silver while Russia, who qualified with the fastest time in the heat, had to settle with a bronze.

Chinese athletes also had excellent performances in water, triumphing in men's and women's 200m super lifesavers and 4X50m obstacle relays, as well as women's 50m manikin carry. For the men's 4X50m relay win, China wrote another new world record with 1:34.80.

"I was exhausted in the final stage, but managed to hold on in the last 10 meters. I didn't expect to win the 200m super lifesaver and I'm really happy about that. Today I have outperformed myself. I'm satisfied with my performance," said Niu Yujie, who rallied back from a fifth place in men's 50m manikin carry event, the only lifesaving gold that eluded the host.

That victory went to Oejciech Kotowski, who led a Poland's one-two finish with teammate Hubert Nakielski and set a new event record at 29.94 seconds. This was the first gold for Poland at the Games.

"We are very cheerful right now," Nakielski said. "To be honest, I was really scared during the race because while taking the manikin I wasn't in the top three and I felt like I had to speed up. So I did."

"It improves my confidence for sure. I know that I can compete with other people around the world and that I am a world silver medalist," he added.

Three European countries secured their first gold from judo on Sunday. Ivaylo Ivanov of Bulgaria won men's -81kg category while Daniel Mukete of Belarus and Klara Apotekar of Slovenia added glory to their own countries in men's -100kg and women's -78kg respectively.

Elsewhere, Lu Pinpin finished the obstacle race in 2:10.9 seconds, two seconds faster than the previous world record, leading the women's military pentathlon temporarily with 1203.7 points after two disciplines (shooting included).

DPRK Korea beat South Korea 3-1 in table tennis men's team to book a final clash with China which includes world No. 2 Fan Zhendong. The South Korean side will fight Saudi Arabia for a chance to step on the podium.

Earlier on Sunday, Russian veteran shooter Leonid Ekimov overcame a pistol malfunction to edge out Ukraine's Pavlo Korostylov by just one point, 590-589, for the gold in the men's individual 25m military rapid fire pistol competition.