HANGZHOU — The first gold medals at the Asian Games were all won by host nation China in rowing, shooting and wushu after President Xi Jinping opened the two-week multisport extravaganza in a colourful ceremony.
China claimed the first gold when Zou Jiaqi and Qiu Xiuping dominated the women’s lightweight double sculls rowing final to kick off an expected medal rush for the hosts in Hangzhou.
The Chinese pair finished in 7min 6.78sec, with Uzbekistan’s Luizakhon Islamova and Malika Tagmativa taking silver, almost 10 seconds behind.
“I am very excited as it’s my first Asian Games,” said Zou, clutching her gold medal.
“Stepping on to the podium today is a new starting point to help us prepare for next year’s Paris Olympics,” said Qiu according to AFP.
Indonesia’s Chelsea Corputty and Rahma Mutiara Putri won bronze at the Fuyang Water Sports Centre.
The hosts then doubled up on the rowing lake as the men’s lightweight double sculls gold was won by Fan Junjie and Sun Man, who finished five seconds clear of India’s Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh.
Uzbekistan’s Shakhzod Nurmatov and Sobirjon Safaroliyev took bronze.
China topped the medals table in the last 10 Asian Games and is almost certain to do so again on home soil.
China’s shooters made it a golden hat-trick soon after when they claimed the women’s 10m team air rifle.
China’s perfect start continued as Sun Peiyuan won the first martial arts gold.
Sun successfully defended his men’s changquan wushu title from 2018, ahead of Indonesia’s Edgar Xavier Marvelo with Macau’s Song Chi-Kuan third.
“I feel very happy to win the gold medal in China, near my home town,” said Sun. “I’m so very excited, I’m lost for words.”
Medals are up for grabs in nine sports on day one of the 19th Asian Games, with China expected to top the overall medals table by the time the action closes on October 8.
Swimming to make splash
Swimming is one of the highlights of the Games and will see seven finals at the Hangzhou Olympic Centre Aquatic Sports Arena, where China is also expected to dominate.
Tokyo Olympic gold medallist Zhang Yufei will defend her title for China in the 200m butterfly.
Breakout Chinese freestyler Pan Zhanle faces a fellow young starlet, Korean sensation Hwang Sun-woo, in one of the blue-riband events, the men’s 100m.
And Chinese Olympic men’s 200m individual medley champion Wang Shun will be looking to bounce back after failing to make the final in the recent world championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
Women’s cricket giants India and Pakistan are both in semi-final action with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka respectively standing in their way of reaching Monday’s final in the Twenty20 competition.
