Sports / China |
Chen sets three world weightlifting records(AFP)Updated: 2006-12-03 21:20 DOHA, Qatar - China has built on its opening day gold medal momentum at the Asian Games, and grabbed the event's first world records when Chen Yanqing set three new marks in the women's weightlifting. After winning 16 of the 20 gold medals on Saturday more of the same was expected Sunday and China had snagged four more midway through the day. But it wasn't all one-way traffic. Kuwait bagged two gold medals and Kazakhstan one. They all came on the shooting ranges. World records fell to Chen in the snatch, clean and jerk and overall disciplines of the women's weightlifting 58kg category. The 27-year-old Olympic champion lifted 111kg in the snatch, beating the previous record set by compatriot Wang Li by 1kg. Chen then entered the clean and jerk at 131kg, taking her overall total immediately to 242kg, beating the previous world record of 241kg held by compatriot Gu Wei. She went on to lift 137kg on her second attempt before hoisting 140kg in her final effort to beat Gu's previous record of 139kg. Her new world record in the aggregate of the two disciplines now stands at 251kg. The Games action though was marred by its first doping scandal with India withdrawing woman shot putter Seema Antil after she reportedly tested positive for a banned drug in pre-competition tests. Antil, 23, was sent home from a training camp in Muscat last week after tests conducted by the Sports Authority of India in November showed an unspecified banned drug in her urine sample. "Seema will not be taking part in the Asian Games," a team official who declined to be identified told AFP. "It appears traces of steroid beyond permissible limits were found in the A sample of her urine test." On the ranges, Kuwait won both the team trap title and the individual final through Naser Meqlad while Kazakhstan took the men's 50m Rifle Prone team event. China chipped in with the men's 10m Air Pistol team gold and women's 10m air pistol team. But the wind was howling and world trap shooting champion Manavjit Sandhu lashed out at Games officials after he failed to win. "Shooting in these conditions is ridiculous," said Sandhu, who managed only two silvers in an event he was expected to finish on top. After snagging the men's gymnastics team title, China's world beating women, led by world vault champion Cheng Fei, took to the floor Sunday and few were betting on anything but victory. They have won this particular gold at the last eight editions of the Asian Games. In the pool, Japan and South Korea announced their intentions to gate-crash China's swimming party, staking strong claims to four of the six medals on offer on the second day of competition. China took five out of six titles on Saturday's opening day but the going looks much tougher from now on with Japan unveiling its big guns of men's and women's swimming. Japan's double Olympic champion Kosuke Kitajima made his debut over 50 metres, cruising into the finals from his heat. The final is later Sunday. A second Japanese gold should come from women's backstroke star Reiko Nakamura, 26, the Olympic relay silver medallist who later Sunday will be defending her 200m backstroke gold. Another competitor looking to upset the Chinese is South Korea's Park Tae-Hwan, who took freestyle golds over 400m and 1,500m at the PanPacific championships in Canada in August. Seventeen-year-old schoolboy Park qualified easily from his 200m freestyle heat for the final and said he wanted four gold medals here in the 100, 200, 400, 1,500 metres. "It is doable," said Park. "I'm in good shape." Back on dry land, and the men's and women's team table tennis finals were due to place. China are the current world champions and are hot tips for gold again. |
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