Asian Games: Hong Kong and Macao trade wushu golds in Nagoya

Hong Kong and Macao split the top two spots in wushu changquan across back-to-back days at the Asian Games in Nagoya this week, headlining a strong opening for Greater Bay Area athletes that also included a record-breaking teenage debut from China and a minor security incident involving Chinese Taipei’s delegation.

Macao and Hong Kong trade wushu golds

Macao’s Kuong Chi Hin won men’s changquan gold on 20 September with a score of 9.723, edging teammate Song Chi Kuan, who took silver at 9.72 on a tiebreak, Macao’s first gold of the Games and only the fourth in its Asian Games history, plus its first ever gold-silver sweep in a single event.

The following day, Hong Kong’s flag bearer Lydia Sham Hui-yu reversed the placings in the women’s changquan final, scoring 9.713 to beat Macao’s Sou Cho-man, who took silver with 9.710, and Indonesia’s Eugenia Diva Widodo, who claimed bronze. It was Hong Kong’s first gold of the Games. Sham, competing in her third Asian Games, had already won world titles in the event over the past year.

Hong Kong’s swimmers add a record breaking silver

In the pool, Hong Kong’s women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team – Gilaine Ma, Olympic medallist Siobhán Haughey, Li Sum-yiu and Natalie Kan – took silver in 3:36.59, breaking the city’s previous Games record of 3:39.10 and securing Hong Kong’s first ever silver in the event after four prior bronzes.

[See more: Truls Moregard and Miwa Harimoto win WTT Champions Macao 2026 titles]

The result earned the team a HK$1 million bonus under the Jockey Club Athlete Incentive Awards Scheme.

China’s Yu Zidi breaks a record on her Asian Games debut

Thirteen-year-old Yu Zidi won gold in the women’s 200m butterfly in her Asian Games debut, clocking 2:05.08 to break the Games record China’s own Zhang Yufei set in Hangzhou, finishing more than three seconds ahead of teammate and silver medallist Chang Mohan. 

It capped a dominant opening day in the pool for China, which also saw Pan Zhanle retain his 100m freestyle title by 0.04 seconds, Xu Jiayu win the 100m backstroke in a Games record 51.98 seconds, and Tang Qianting take the 50m breaststroke in a Games record 29.45 seconds.

Chinese Taipei deals with a banner defacement at its training base

A banner at a Nagoya elementary school used as a training base for Chinese Taipei’s delegation was found defaced with ink, according to local newspaper Chunichi Shimbun. Chinese Taipei officials called for mutual respect between delegations. They said the banner has been replaced and confirmed that additional security cameras have been installed at the site.