Muhammad Azeem Bin Mohd Fahmi: China’s sprinters stole the show at the Hangzhou Asian Games, with Xie Zhenye and Ge Manqi winning the men’s and women’s 100m finals respectively.Xie, the 200m Asian record holder, stormed to victory in 9.97 seconds, tying his personal best and this year’s Asian leading time held by Japan’s Sani Brown, reports Xinhua.
“To break the 10-second barrier has been my goal for almost a whole year, and I have been reflecting on why I kept missing it. Today, in front of my home crowd, I finally made it,” said an elated Xie.
However, as the wind speed behind him exceeded 2 meters per second, Xie’s winning time could not land him a spot for next year’s Paris Olympics, where the entry standard for the men’s 100m is 10 seconds.
“I saw the wind thing, but I don’t have anything to complain about today. My result is there, so see you guys next year I guess,” said the 30-year-old.
Xie, who holds the national leading time in both 100m and 200m this year, is considered as China’s top medal hope after Su Bingtian withdrew from the 2023 season due to health issues.
Boonson Puripol of Thailand took silver in 10.02, followed by Muhammad Azeem Bin Mohd Fahmi of Malaysia in 10.11.
In the women’s 100m, Ge pipped Veronica Shanti Pereira of Singapore with a strong sprint, clocking 11.23 seconds to grab her first Asian Games gold.
“It’s been a tough year for me. I just want to say thank you to everyone who has offered a helping hand whenever I was down,” said an emotional Ge after the race.
Pereira, the newly-crowned Asian champion, was just 0.04 seconds behind and had to settle for the silver. Hajar Saad Saeed Saad Alkhaldi of Bahrain claimed the bronze in 11.35 seconds.
The men’s pole vault witnessed the first new Games record in athletics as Ernest John Obiena of the Philippines, who won silver at the Budapest worlds, cleared 5.90m to beat the previous mark of 5.70m.
The 27-year-old then attempted to clear the height of 6.02m but failed on all three attempts.
China’s Huang Bokai and Hussain Asim M Al Hizam of Saudi Arabia both cleared 5.65m, but Huang captured silver on countback.
In the men’s hammer throw, China’s Wang Qi snatched the title from defending gold medallist Ashraf Elseify with a throw of 72.97 meters on his fifth attempt.
Elseify, who won gold in 2018 Jakarta, had led until then with a 72.47 on his second attempt. The bronze medal was won by Uzbekistan’s Sukhrob Khodjaev with an effort of 70.79.
In the men’s 400m final, Yousef Ahmed Masrahi of Saudi Arabia won gold in a photo-finish. The 35-year-old Masrahi, who won gold in the same event at the 2014 Incheon Games, finished in 45.55 to edge out Asian champion Kentaro Sato of Japan by two-hundredths of a second. Bahrain’s Yusuf Abbas Ali took the bronze in 45.65, a personal best.
Bahrain had a one-two finish in the women’s 400m with Oluwakemi Adekoya taking the gold in 50.66 and compatriot Salwa Naser the silver in 50.92. Malaysia’s Shereen Samson won the bronze in 52.58.
Bahrain also won gold in the men’s 10,000m with Birhanu Balew finishing first in 28 minutes 13.62 seconds.
India’s Kumar Kartik claimed silver in 28:15.38, and Gulveer Singh took the bronze in 28:17.21.
