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South Korea is Lee Won-hee joins the audience and parents Monday at Asian Games judo arena to celebrate his gold medal performance.
/AP-Yonhap

DOHA Olympic judo champion Lee Won-hee captured his first Asian Games title Monday, as South Korea continued to lag behind Japan and China on the medal chart in the 45-nation competition. Lee, 25, threw his archrival Masahiro Takamatsu of Japan in one minute, 33 seconds, in the men’s under-73 kilogram division. With the victory, Lee became the first South Korean judoka to accomplish a Grand Slam, by winning the world and Asian championships in the class.

Lee has finished four of five matches with winning throws, just as he won three of four matches in the 2004 Athens Olympics. Elsewhere, South Korean athletes picked up two more golds in the team dressage and soft tennis’s mixed doubles events, but remained third in the medal standing in the ongoing Asian Games.

Another Soft Tennis Victory

In the second soft tennis gold medal of the competition, Kim Jieun and We Hyu-hwan beat compatriots Kim Kyung-ryun and You Young-dong 5-2 at the final match held at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex. The bronze medal went to Japan is Harumi Gyokusen and Tsuneo Takagawa. South Korea swept all seven gold medals in the event in the 2002 Asian Games and has been a dominating force in this sport since the 1994. Soft tennis is a racquet sport played on a rectangular court. Its rules are similar to regular tennis, but it uses a softer ball and lighter racquets that bring longer rallies.

Dressage Is Golden

South Korea’s impressive equestrian record continued when it won the team dressage event for the fourth time in the last five games. Team member Suh Jungkyun’s gold was his sixth at the Asian Games in his career. He had previously won gold medals in 1986 and 1998 both team and individual and in 2002 (team), making him the most successful rider in the history of the games. China, meanwhile, bolstered its No.1 status in the medal race by adding nine more gold medals in artistic gymnastics, road cycling, shooting and weightlifting. China tops the chart with 38 golds, followed by Japan with 12 and South Korea with seven.

Japanese swimmer Kosuke Kitajima won another breaststroke race and a Chinese gymnast claimed the all-around title, maintaining the status quo Monday at the Asian Games. Kitajima, who won the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke double at the Athens Olympics, defended his Asian Games title over 100 meters Monday in a time of 1 minute, 1.13 seconds, nearly two seconds outside his Asian record.

Thai World Record

Earlier, Olympic champion weightlifter Pawina Thongsuk of Thailand bettered the clean-andjerk world record in the 63-kilogram class set by Russian Svetlana Shimkova by one kilogram. Pawina lifted 142 kilogram to improve Shimkova is record of 141 kilogram set at Wladyslawowo, Poland earlier this year. Li Hongli won gold in the men’s 77 kg class to give China its eighth of a possible nine weightlifting titles contested so far at the games Pawina is the only one outside China to grab gold.

Taiwan stayed on track for a baseball gold medal showdown with Japan. Third baseman Chang Tai-shan and designated hitter Chen Chin-feng hit solo home runs to lead Taiwan to a 4-2 victory over China. Japan, the World Baseball Classic champion, and Taiwan meet Thursday in the final roundrobin game in the tournament, with the winner to take gold.

Qatar Wins Medal

Host Qatar picked up its first medal of the games when the women is shooting team of Anisa Jama, Samsam Jama and Amal Mhamud secured bronze in the 10 meter running target event. And Ali Harem won the first medal a bronze for war-ravaged Iraq in 77 kilogramweightlifting. It was Iraq is first medal at the Asian Games in 20 years.

Off the competition fields, a high-ranking Indian official confirmed that discus thrower Seema Antil failed a doping test conducted by the World Anti- Doping Agency during a team training camp in the leadup to the Asian Games.

Source from: times.hankooki.com