Japan sinks China's swimming machine

Japan sinks China's swimming machine

BANGKOK (Agencies): China's feared swimming machine was
humiliated on Tuesday when Japan swept all before it here on
Tuesday.

Only Taiwanese Tsai Shu-Min's victory in the 200m freestyle
prevented a Japan clean sweep of the five gold medals on offer.

Tsai made Taiwan the first nation other than Japan or China to
claim a gold in two days of competition. But Japanese swimmers
won all four other events, led by Takashi Yamamoto who won the
men's 100m butterfly in an Asian Games record of 53.34.

Masami Tanaka in the women's 200m breaststroke, Takahiro Mori
in the men's 400m individual medley and the men's 4 x 200m free
relay gave Japan its other victories.

They were too powerful for Thai hero Ratapong Sirisanont, who
couldn't give the host nation its first swimming gold.

He settled for bronze in the men's 400m individual medley
behind Mori and China's Xiong Guoming.

Sirisanont came into the Asiad as defending champion in the
200m and 400m medleys after China's Xiong was disqualified for
failing a drug test in Hiroshima four years ago.

His two golds were the only ones that didn't go to Japan or
China in 1994, and the Thai crowd set up a deafening roar in the
US$38 million Thammasat pool in anticipation of a home victory.

Xiong, back after serving his ban, parlayed strong opening
butterfly and backstroke legs to lead compatriot Xie Xufeng by
more than a second at the halfway point, with Mori third and
Sirisanont fourth.

Sirisanont moved into second place just six-hundredths of a
second behind after the breaststroke to re-ignite the crowd.
But Mori, the fastest qualifier, surged ahead in the final lap to
win in 4:20.98.

Xiong clocked 4:22.57 and Sirisanont was timed in 4:24.15.

It looked like the two regional powerhouses were headed for
gold in the women's 200m free, with Tsai was third at the first
turn behind Japan's Sachiko Yamada and China's Qin Cian.

She had pulled ahead at the halfway point and stretched her
lead to nearly a second at the final turn before winning in
2:00.89. Qin was closing, but not fast enough, when she finished
second in 2:01.75 and the fading Yamada was third in 2:03.14.

"I reserved my strength in the first half and went for it in
the latter half," Tsai said.

She was happy with the win, but not with the time.

"It's not my personal best," she said.

Yamamoto, who added the 100m butterfly gold to his 1996 Asian
Championships title, was also unhappy with his 53.34, even though
it was a games record.

"As the top favorite, I had to win, at least," said Yamamoto,
who had hoped to do so with more of a flourish.

"I'm glad to win the gold medal, but not so happy because I
couldn't swim under 53 (seconds). I swam too hard in the first
half and didn't have enough for the second.

"I'm number one in Asia," he added, "but the time is far
slower than the top swimmers of the world. If I could have swum a
little bit faster, I would have been happier."

China's Xiao Zhang was second in 54.40 and Han Kyu-Chul earned
bronze for Korea in 54.83.

Japan's relay men rounded out the night with a victory in the
4 x 200m free in 7:30.54. China was next -- making it a Chinese
sweep of all five silvers on the night -- in 7:34.11 and Korea
was third in 7:36.07.

Diving

China's teenage divers twisted, somersaulted and flipped their
way to two gold and two silver medals at the Asian Games on
Tuesday.

Guo Jingjing, 17, won the gold in the women's three-meter
springboard event with 547.47 points after a virtuoso display of
timing and elegance outclassing all her rivals.

Teammate Yang Lan, 19, showed less flair but consistency
across her five dives of the day to win silver with 510.840
points.

China also dominated the men's 10-meter platform competition,
with 19-year-old Tian Liang soaring to victory on 657.66 points,
ahead of teammate Huang Qiang, 17.

The two women swimmers said they were satisfied but not
surprised by their results.

"I am happy with my performance," Guo told Reuters. "But
there's no time to rest."

"I'll be training again tomorrow as I am preparing for the
World Cup in New Zealand in January," she said.

Kazakhstan's Irina Vyguzova took the bronze behind Yang after
a bitter struggle for third place with North Korea's Ri Ok-rim.
Pichi Suchart of Thailand delighted the home crowd by taking
bronze in the men's platform event.