Japan, China take back seat for once

Tue, 15 Dec 1998 | Source: REUTERS

BANGKOK (Agencies): The Asian Games on Monday showed the growing depth of its track and field talent with Sri Lanka, India and Qatar elbowing aside regional giants China and Japan.

In what was a welcome relief for many, the tussle between Japanese and Chinese for sport supremacy took a back seat to lesser known powers.

But the two powers could not be completely denied.

Japanese sprinter Koji Ito was crowned Asia's fastest man by winning the 100-meter but fell short in a brave bid to become the first Asian to dip under the magical 10-second barrier.

The fastest woman crown went to China's Li Xuemei who cruised home in the women's sprint to salvage some pride for the fallen Chinese track and field team, once the dominant force in Asia.

The soccer semifinalists were decided with Thailand putting on an heroic nine-man show after two players were sent off to amazingly join China, Iran and Kuwait in the medal round.

The Thais were not the only the team to get a red card.

China's coach Bob Houghton, a former assistant coach for Nottingham Forest in England's premier league, was automatically suspended for one match -- meaning he will miss Wednesday's semifinals -- for dissent from the sidelines.

Hanging over the tournament was a meeting on Tuesday to decide if Asians boycott the 2002 World Cup, ironically to be co-hosted in the region's backyard for the first time by Japan and South Korea.

The Asians are unhappy that they only have two berths -- apart from the two spots for the co-hosts -- for the 32 nation World Cup.

It was a day of triumph, disappointment and even tragedy for the Indian Ocean island of Sri Lanka which so rarely has come into the limelight at the 47-year-old Games.

Sri Lanka lost its biggest sprint star at the Games to injury but made up for it with a golden double that ended a 24-year drought.

Sugath Tillekeratne and Damayanthi Darsha broke an Asian Games jinx by sweeping up the men's and women's 400m golds, Sri Lanka's first golds at the Asiad since 1974.

Tragedy then struck the Sri Lankan team when swimming team manager Rizvi Fulile Zain died of a sudden heart attack after a shopping trip with his nephew.

Sri Lanka's last Asian Games title was in the men's 4X400m at the 1974 Games.

The golden double made up for disappointment over the withdrawal from the 100m and 200m events of sprinter Susanthika Jayasinghe due to a hamstring injury.

The outspoken 22-year-old, who failed a random drugs test in April, quit the Asian Games on Monday after failing to start in the 100m finals.

Jayasinghe became Sri Lanka's most successful athlete when she grabbed the silver in the 1997 world championships in Athens last year.

Disqualification

Unlike Sri Lanka, Indonesia saw its dreams to rejoin Asia's track and field medal winning club fading after its women's runner and walker failed to match the regional stars.

Indonesia's hopeful in the women's 10-kilometer walk, Tersiana Riwu Rohi, even missed from the pack of finishers as she was disqualified for the third lifting offense in the sixth lap.

Indonesia's last medal, a bronze, in Asiad track and field competition came in 1974 through Carolina Riewpassa in the women's 200m run.

A tearful Tersiana said she saw track officials warn her just once in the fourth lap. "I have never expected to end the race this way. I've trained and prepared for the Games for years only to be humiliated for offenses I thought I did not commit," she said.

The Indonesian was no the only one to go out as pre-race favorite Li Yuxin of China was disqualified with just five laps remaining.

Tersiana was aiming to only better her personal best of 46:19.00 in the race eventually won by Liu Hongyu of China in a meet record of 43:57.28.

In the women's 10,000m run, Indonesia's Supriati Sutono managed only to finish fifth in 32:52.45, well more than 51 seconds slower than winner Yuko Kawakami of Japan.