China ended a 12-year wait for badminton gold and swept sanda, while Hong Kong's rowers added two silvers and Macao's karate team reached the final
Asian Games update: China, Hong Kong and Macao shine
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China swept every sanda gold on offer, ended a 12-year wait for badminton team gold, and claimed its first kayak title of the Games, while Hong Kong added two more rowing silvers to an already strong week and Macao’s karate team reached a gold medal match in the latest developments at the Asian Games from 22 to 24 September.
Hong Kong: A bumper medal day, headlined by a historic first
Chan Tsz-ching won bronze in women’s 52kg wushu sanda on 23 September, Hong Kong’s first ever Asian Games medal in the discipline. Teammate Leung Yu-hong took silver in the men’s 60kg final the following day, losing to China’s Tang Sishuo but capping Hong Kong’s best ever result in the event.
In karate, Tsang Kei-ting won silver in the women’s -50kg division, losing a tied final to Malaysia’s Nur Dhabitah Sabri on a judges’ decision. The men’s team kata squad recovered from a 5-0 semifinal loss to Macao by beating Chinese Taipei 3-2 for bronze. In the pool, Kan Cho-tung won bronze in the women’s 100m butterfly.
Hong Kong also added a wushu silver from Lau Chi-lung in men’s nanquan and nangun, and a bronze from cyclist Leung Wing-yee in the women’s road race, taking the delegation’s medal tally well past 15 through 23 September.
On 24 September, Hong Kong’s rowers delivered two more silvers: Winne Hung Wing-yan in the women’s lightweight single sculls, and the pairing of Cheung Yuen-shan and Leung Wing-wun in the lightweight double sculls, edging Japan by just 0.03 seconds for the podium spot.
[See more: Asian Games update: Haughey and China’s swimmers shine]
Macao: karate team eliminates both Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei
Macao’s men’s karate team, last edition’s silver medallists, beat Hong Kong 5-0 in the quarterfinals of team kata, then beat Chinese Taipei 5-0 in the semifinals to reach the gold medal match against Kuwait, who beat Vietnam and Malaysia by the same scoreline to get there.
In the pool, Chan Pui Lam broke Macao’s record in the women’s 200m breaststroke with a time of 2:31.57 on 24 September, and will compete in the final. Ng Chi Hin broke his own Macao record in the men’s 50m butterfly by 0.31 seconds and will also race in the final.
China: A dominant stretch across multiple sports
China’s women’s badminton team beat host nation Japan 3-0 in the team final on 24 September, reclaiming the title after 12 years and extending their all-time record to 11 titles in the event. World number two Wang Zhiyi opened with a three game win over Akane Yamaguchi, before Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning won the doubles, and Chen Yufei sealed the tie in straight games.
The same day, China swept all six sanda gold medals within the space of an hour, including Tang Sishuo’s win over Hong Kong’s Leung Yu-hong in the men’s 60kg final. Combined with six golds in wushu’s routine events, China won all 12 wushu titles available at these Games. In kayaking, Yin Mengdie and Yu Shimeng won China’s first gold of the discipline this year, taking the women’s K2 500m in 1:45.010.
This followed China’s gymnastics team sweep on 23 September, when the men beat Japan 255.095 to 253.826 and the women beat Japan 166.462 to 165.362 for a 14th consecutive women’s team title dating back to 1974.
