China's Guo returns from disgrace but Japan the best

China's Guo returns from disgrace but Japan the best

BANGKOK (AFP): Xiong Guoming completed his return from drug
disgrace on Saturday with victory in the men's 200 meter medley
Saturday but Japan returned to the top of Asian Games swimming.

Xiong lost four gold medals at the Asian Games four years ago
in the Chinese doping scandal that rocked the Hiroshima Games.

He was banned for two years. But his triumph in 2 minutes 3.34
seconds gave him gold and a Games record to go with the silver
medal he won in the 400m medley on Tuesday.

"I have been looking forward to a gold medal in the Asian
Games to prove myself," Xiong said. "My next goal is to get
through the domestic trials for the Sydney Olympics."

China was humiliated by the Hiroshima scandal, but in answer
to drug questions, Xiong would only say: "I can prove I am clean
with a doping test."

Japan's veteran Jo Yoshimi was second in the medley and
China's Xie Xufeng was third. Thailand's Ratapong Sirisanont, who
inherited both medley golds from Xiong in Hiroshima, was
relegated to fifth.

After massive gains by China in 1990 and 1994 -- a record now
tainted by drugs -- Japan reclaimed the swimming superiority it
boasted throughout the Asian Games of the 1970s and 1980s.

Japan beat China in the gold rankings 15-13 thanks to
performers like Shunsuke Ito, who captured his fourth gold medal
of the Games on Saturday in the men's 4x100m medley relay.

A Japan team including double butterfly gold medalist Takashi
Yamamoto and 100m freestyle winner Ito beat a Chinese quartet
including solo gold medalists Su Yong and Zeng Qiliang.

Yamamoto claimed his third gold while Ito, who raced in all of
Japan's triumphant men's relay teams, grabbed his fourth.

"I have only one individual gold, so it would not have been
possible without the team's strength. I did not have to race in
the heats so I could show what I have in the finals."

Hat-tricks

Two women, Japan's Tomoko Hagiware and China's Shan Ying, took
their gold total to three on the final night of swimming at the
US$38 million Thammasat University pool.

Hagiware picked up her second backstroke gold in the 200m.
Just as she did in the 100m, Hagiware thwarted world championship
silver and bronze medalist Mie Nakamura, edging into the lead at
the final turn and surging past her teammate.

Shan captured her second individual gold and third of the
competition in the 50m freestyle. Successfully defending her 100m
freestyle title from 1994, she won in 25.88 seconds, leading
teammate Xue Han and Japan's Sumiko Minamoto.

While Chinese and Japanese swimmers piled up the golds, only a
handful of others were able to get their hands on titles.

South Korean Cho Hee-yeon became one of them, with her victory
in the women's 200m butterfly.

"This is the happiest moment of my life," said Cho, who became
the only fourth swimmer to win a gold for countries other than
China or Japan at these Games. "I thought the Japanese would get
the medal."

Hitomi Kashima managed to sneak ahead at the halfway mark, but
could not hold on to the lead. Cho widened the gap on the final
lap for a convincing victory in 2:11.34 ahead of Ruan Yi of China
and a tiring Kashima.

Japan's Masato Hirano avenged his 400m freestyle defeat with a
victory in the 1,500m freestyle in an Asian Games record of
15:22.20. Thai, Torlarp Sethsothorn, who beat the Asian record
holder to the 400m freestyle gold this time took silver ahead of
1994 gold medalist Hisham Masri of Syrian.