INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Hosts China romped to gold in the men&s and women&s 100m sprints at the Asian Games as North Korea&s weightlifters scorched several world
records on an action-packed Saturday.Golds were up for grabs on a damp day in Hangzhou in everything from diving and eSports to athletics
and roller skating, AFP reported.China inevitably hoovered up many of them to take them to 114 golds in total at the halfway stage of the
competition, well clear of Japan (28 golds) and South Korea (27).The 100m sprints are among the most prestigious events of any Games and it
was two Chinese speedsters who thrilled the raucous crowd with victories at the 80,000-capacity Hangzhou Olympic stadium.First, Ge Manqi
raced to the line in 11.23sec to take the women&s crown and then Xie Zhenye made it a double home delight with his winning time of 9.97sec
for the men&s title.Among other notable performances in track and field, the world&s number-two ranked pole vaulter EJ Obiena of the
Philippines cleared 5.90m for gold and a Games record.He admitted to mixed feelings, having relegated home favorite Huang Bokai to
silver.The challenge is I feel a little bit like a villain today — it&s not my medal,& he said.There were some eye-popping performances
from North Korea&s women weightlifters.They were competing at an international event for the first time since December 2019 after the
country sealed its borders because of the pandemic.But that did not stop them from shattering a slew of world records.Ri Song Gum broke two
world records in the women&s 49kg, the first weightlifting event in Hangzhou.Then Kang Hyong Yong, a 24-year-old with no international
pedigree, set a hat-trick of world records in snatch, clean and jerk, and combined on her way to gold in the women&s 55kg class.China&s
world champion Jiang Huihua, who took silver, said she was &surprised& at Ri&s success after such a long absence.There were tears on the
podium as Ri and Kang saluted the North Korean flag — which was hoisted once again in contravention of a World Anti-Doping Agency
edict.WADA declared the country&s national anti-doping body &non-compliant& in 2021 and slapped it with sanctions, including not being able
to fly the flag at continental events.I feel very happy about breaking the world record and when I see my national flag flying I feel very
excited to bring this good news to my people,& said Ri.Fierce rivalries took center stage.North Korea thrashed South Korea 4-1 in a feisty
quarter-final of the women&s football.South Korea, led by the English coach Colin Bell, included players who featured at the recent Women&s
World Cup, where they went out in the group phase.The neighbors, who are still technically at war, were locked at 1-1 when South Korea
forward Son Hwa-yeon was sent off for a second yellow card close to half time.North Korea made the most of their numerical advantage to
score three times in the second period for an ultimately comfortable victory, their players celebrating wildly at the full-time
whistle.Pakistan and arch-rivals India then clashed in the men&s hockey group stage.The highly anticipated showdown turned out to be a
mismatch, however, as India thrashed their neighbors 10-2.India also got one over Pakistan in squash, edging them 2-1 in the final of the
men&s team competition.Table tennis shockIn other action, China&s Zhang Zhizhen won the men&s singles tennis, adding his gold to the one
collected by Zheng Qinwen in the women&s singles a day earlier.It&s been a very, very tough week, not just this match, but very tough for
the whole week actually, from the first match onwards,& said Zhang.In table tennis, the hosts won all five golds five years ago and are a
global superpower in the sport.But they were on the end of three defeats in the quarter-finals on Saturday.In the biggest shock, the
16th-ranked Indian women&s pair of Ayhika Mukherjee and Sutirtha Mukherjee — not related — defeated world champions Chen Meng and Wang
Yidi 3-1 to reach the last four.The post North Korean lifters smash records at Asian Games first appeared on Ariana News.
