(Asiad) S. Korea grabs five golds on first day; China dominates shooting

By Special Reporting Team

INCHEON, Sept. 20 (Yonhap) -- Host South Korea captured five gold medals as part of its 13-medal first day of official competition at the ongoing Asian Games on Saturday, putting itself solidly on track to win the desired 90 gold medals at the multisport competition.

South Korea shot to the top of the medal standings, but China is right behind with 11 medals, including five golds. China has reigned supreme at the Asian Games for more than three decades, and it may just be a matter of time before China overtakes the host on the medal table.

North Korea, too, got on board on the first day, as weightlifter Om Yun-chol broke his own world record en route to the men's 56-kilogram title. Kim Sol-mi added a bronze in the women's judo.

For South Korea, the first gold medal came in wushu, with Lee Ha-sung winning the men's changquan with 9.71 points, 0.02 better than the gold medal favorite, Jia Rui of Macau.

This was South Korea's first wushu gold in an Asiad since 2002.

The other gold medals for the host came from equestrian, track cycling and fencing. Yet it was China that had the honor of taking the Asiad's first gold.

Its women's pistol shooting trio of Guo Wenjun, Zhang Mengyuan and Zhou Qingyuan combined for 1,146 points to win the women's 10ｍ air pistol team event.

The Chinese were on target at Ongnyeon International Shooting Range, picking up two more gold medals, in the men's 50m pistol and in the women's individual 10m air pistol. Zhang Mengyuan became the first double gold medalist of this Asiad.

The South Korean shooters settled for two silver medals in the morning, but the air of disappointment quickly gave way to the exhilaration of victories in the afternoon.

In equestrian, the men's dressage team captured the country's fifth straight Asiad title Saturday. Hwang Young-shik, Chung Yoo-yeon and Kim Dong-seon combined for an average of 71.746 points in Incheon, ahead of second-place Japan with 69.842 points on average.

Hwang, 23, was the best of the 32 riders with 74.342 points.

Then in cycling, South Korea struck its first-ever Asiad gold in the men's team sprint event, moments after the women's team got the silver in the team sprint race.

There were two all-Korean finals in fencing on Saturday. First, Lee Ra-jin stunned Kim Ji-yeon, the 2012 Olympic champ, in the women's sabre final by the score of 15-11.

Jung Jin-sun followed suit, beating Park Kyoung-doo in the men's epee final, 15-9.

While the South Koreans were picking up gold medals, the North Korean weightlifter Om broke a world record.

Om broke his own world mark with a lift of 170㎏ in the clean and jerk. He also hoisted 128㎏ in the snatch earlier for an Asian Games record total of 298㎏.

Om didn't just win the medal; he also won the hearts of many in the audience at the Moonlight Festival Garden Weightlifting Venue. The crowd-pleaser pumped his fists with each successful lift, and jumped up and down on the stage after setting the world record.

After the medal ceremony, South Korean fans, holding up a sign that read, in Korean, "Om Yun-chol is the best," chanted his name and the phrase "We are one" to the lifter.

Before Om basked in adulation, Kim Sol-mi grabbed North Korea's first medal in the women's judo.

The North has 150 athletes in 14 sports here, with an aim of finishing in the top 10 in medals.

South Korea's other medals on Saturday came from judo, where its athletes bagged home three bronze medals.

Judo has been one of South Korea's biggest gold mines in international sporting events. The country clinched six golds out of 14 titles up for grabs at the Guangzhou Asiad. Getting shut out of gold medals from the get-go was disappointing, but the judo delegation will be at it again Sunday, led by 2012 Olympic champ Kim Jae-bum.

The first day had its share of adventures off the field. A preliminary round of the badminton competition was suspended for several minutes due to a power failure. Gyeyang Gymnasium, the venue for badminton, suffered a blackout at 9:45 a.m. as three matches of the first round of women's badminton team events were under way.

The matches between Taiwan and Hong Kong, India and Macau, and Maldives and Indonesia were suspended after most of the lights and screens went off at the gymnasium.

The reason for the power failure wasn't immediately known.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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