China and Japan dominate Asiad swimming competition
Chinese and Japanese swimmers turned Guangzhou’s Aoti Aquatics Centre into their own playground at the start of the 2010 Asian Games swimming competition on Saturday 13 November.
China won four gold medals, while Japan took home two titles as the two powerhouse nations renewed their rivalry in the pool.
Local bet Zhu Qianwei won the first gold medal of the competition when she topped the women's 200m freestyle final. She clocked one minute and 56.65 seconds to finish ahead of compatriot Tang Yi (1:57.08). Japan's Ito Hanae settled for the bronze medal with
a time of 1:58.24.
According The Times of India, Zhu, a member of the victorious 4x200m freestyle relay team in last year's world championships in Rome, said, "The training had been quite tough before the Asian Games and my coach was worried about my health. He didn't
want me to train too hard before the event, but I am always eager to practise. Now I am happy to be rewarded for that."
In the women's 100m butterfly, Jiao Liuyang touched the wall in 57.76 seconds to give China their second gold of the day. The Olympic silver medallist finished ahead of Singapore's Tao Li (58.24) and Japan's Yuka Kato (58.46).
Wang Randi made it back-to-back wins for the Chinese when she ruled the women's 50m breaststroke. She posted a winning time of 31.04 seconds to edge compatriot Zhao Jing (31.13) and Japan's Satomi Suzuki (31.52).
In the night's final event, the Chinese beat the Japanese in the women's 4x100m medley relay. Zhao, Chen Huijia, Jiao and Tang combined for a winning time of 3:57.80.
Japan's Aya Terakawa, Suzuki, Kato and Haruka Ueda finished second in 3:58.24. Hong Kong's Claudia Lau, Fiona Ma, Sze Hang Yu and Hannah Wilson claimed the bronze medal with a time of 4:06.83.
Japan's two gold medals were won by Yuya Horihata and Takeshi Matsuda.
Horihata, the Asian record holder in the men’s 400m individual medley, touched the wall in 4:13.35. The 20-year-old trailed for most of the race but gave his all in the freestyle leg to win the gold medal.
China's Huang Chaosheng settled for the silver medal with a time of 4:13.38 while Japan's Ken Takakuwa claimed the bronze in 4:16.42.
"I was very impressed with the young Chinese swimmers, so I had to do something to make Japan better by touching the wall first," Horihata said.
"The race was not easy and the timing was close, but I got through thanks to lots of mental training and focus."
Matsuda won the men's 200m butterfly in 1:54.02. He finished ahead of compatriot Ryusuke Sakata (1:55.23) and China's Chen Yin (1:55.29).
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