Chaudhary strikes gold for India
Chaudhary’s Games record of 240.7 helps him finish ahead of Matsuda
India’s 16-year-old Saurabh Chaudhary showed that he has cool head on his young shoulders by clinching shooting gold on his Asian Games debut. In the men’s 10-metre air pistol event, Chaudhary shot a Games record score of 240.7 to finish ahead of Japan’s Tomoyuki Matsuda, who managed 239.7 for silver. The bronze was bagged by Chaudhary’s compatriot Abhishek Verma, who too was making his debut at 29, with 219.3.
It was a huge achievement for the youngster to prevail in a high-profile field that included Jin Jong-oh from South Korea, the multiple-time Olympic and world champion.
Chaudhary, who looked in line for silver after being in second position for most of the final, shot into lead after Matsuda fired 8.9 in his penultimate round.
The Indian then showed tremendous maturity and nerves of steel to shoot a 10.2 off his second-last round. While the Japanese managed a 10.3 in his final attempt, Chaudary’s 10.4 was enough to pocket the gold.
“I was just focusing on my shot and didn’t try to do anything different. I did not feel any pressure at all,” said Chaudhary, who was equally good in the qualification with a score of 586. The student of class XI honed his skills at the Amit Sheoran’s academy at a small place called Benoli, 53 kilometres from Meerut.
India also clinched a bronze in Sepaktakraw. The men’s team lost their Team Regu semi-final match 2-0 to Thailand. However, this is the first-ever medal India has won in Sepaktakraw event.
Wrestler Divya Kakran added to India’s tally with another bronze late in the evening. Kakran defeated Chinese Taipei’s Chen Wenling in just 89 seconds via technical superiority (10-0).
China’s Liu Xiang sparked an explosive night of Asian Games swimming by smashing the world record in the women’s 50-metre backstroke yesterday.
The 21-year-old set the first new world best time at the sixday Jakarta meet, storming to gold in 26.98 — the first time a woman has broken the 27-second barrier.
Japan’s Rikako Ikee crushed it in the women’s 100m butterfly to win her fourth gold in three days, while Chinese giant Sun Yang scooped his third as the Asian rivals fought tooth and nail for supremacy of the pool.
Liu shaved eight hundredths off countrywoman Zhao Jing’s previous bodysuit world best set in 2009. “It was like a dream,” gasped the former world bronze medallist. “I didn’t expect to do that. I’ve improved my kick in the last few months and I think maybe that’s what made the difference.”
Fu Yuanhui, also of China, took silver in 27.68 with Japan’s Natsumi Sakai claiming bronze.
Ikee complained of being “shattered” after the morning heats but showed no signs of fatigue in the final as she won in a Games record 56.30. Her time was over a second clear of China’s Zhang Yufei and comes just 10 days after Ikee claimed the Pan Pacific title in Tokyo.
“It was a perfect race plan and a great swim,” said the 18-yearold, who has also won gold in the 50m fly, 100m free and the 4x100m free.
“I didn’t think I had that in me after the heats. But I stayed calm and didn’t panic,” added Ikee, who returned to help Japan to silver in the women’s 4x200m free.
“I hate losing so hopefully I can keep this winning run going until next year’s world championships.”
World champion Sun powered to gold in the 400m freestyle after winning the 200m and 800m titles earlier in the week, also equalling the record of eight Asian Games swimming gold medals held by compatriot Xu Yanwei. The three-time Olympic gold medallist clocked a winning time of 3:42.92 — more than four seconds clear of Japan’s Naito Ehara.
“It proves I’m still at the top of my game in the 400,” said Sun, who triggered swoons from his flag-waving groupie fans when he waved in their direction.
Japan’s Yasuhiro Koseki beat countryman Ippei Watanabe by a fingertip to win 200m breaststroke gold. Koseki went out strong and clung on to win in 2:07.81 — pipping world record holder Watanabe by one hundredth of a second.
“The last few metres were painful,” winced Koseki. “I was hanging on for dear life — I thought I was going to croak.”
Earlier, China’s Yu Hexin secured gold in the men’s 50m freestyle in 22.11, from Japanese pair Katsumi Nakamura (22.20) and Shunichi Nakao (22.46).
Yui Ohashi hit back for Japan with a runaway victory in the women’s 400m individual medley, winning in 4:34.58 from Korean Kim Seoyeong (4:37.43) and fellow Japanese Sakiko Shimizu (4:39.10). China’s women’s 4x200m victory kept their noses in front of Japan with 11 gold medals to 10 for their fierce rivals.