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Mike Chan

Hong Kong’s women made Asian Games history on Sunday, winning silver in the 4x100m freestyle relay, while China’s contingent dominated the day in the pool from start to finish.
Olympian Siobhan Haughey pushed her team, who were in fourth after Gilaine Ma’s opening leg, into second, and Li Sum-yiu and Natalie Kan Cheuk-tung held their position to finish in three minutes, 36.59 seconds, a new Hong Kong record.
The previous best of 3:39.10 was set in Hangzhou, where they claimed bronze, as they had done on four previous occasions. It was just the second silver the team have ever managed, after one in 1994.
Haughey, who was part of the team that won bronze in Hangzhou, was proud of the collective efforts of the swimmers.
“I felt really happy for sure; we have two Asian Games debutants on the team, and we scored a medal on the first day,” Haughey said. “It shows that we actually have quite a lot of young swimmers who have great potential. I believe our swimmers will perform great in the following days.”
Ma, who was making her Asian Games debut, enjoyed soaking up the atmosphere of the event.

“It’s my first Asian Games, the atmosphere was really good, and I can feel it instantly the moment I stepped into the competition hall. I am happy to be swimming here, and I wasn’t thinking about the outcome; I was just trying to do the best I could. I am happy to be swimming with this team.”
Haughey added: “Swimming relays is more fun and anxious compared to competing in individual events, as you need the four of us to work together. You can’t control the outcome just by yourself, so it’s the collective effort of all four of us in winning this medal.”
China, meanwhile, took gold in a Games record time of 3:33.10, while Japan claimed bronze in 3:39.09.
Earlier, teenage swim sensation Yu Zidi had put an exclamation point on her Games debut with a record-setting victory in the women’s 200 metres butterfly in Japan.
Pan Zhanle followed shortly after and proved he was still the best 100m freestyle swimmer after storming back from behind to defend the title he won in Hangzhou.
The 13-year-old Yu led from start to finish at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, as China’s dominant swimmers added more gold to a day that had quickly become full of it.
Yu’s time of two minutes and 5.08 seconds sliced almost half a second off the previous record, set by compatriot Zhang Yufei at the Hangzhou Games three years ago.
It was also 0.63 seconds faster than her personal best, achieved in March in Shenzhen at the China Open Swimming Championships.
Compatriot Chang Mohan took silver more than three seconds behind in 2:08.44, with Japan’s Misa Okuzono claiming bronze in 2:09.67.
In the 100m freestyle, Pan was third at the midway point but the Paris Olympic champion exploded in the second half to take out halfway leader Kim Young-beom of South Korea to win the gold medal.

The 22-year-old finished in 47.61 seconds, while Kim, who clocked a time of 47.65 seconds, and compatriot Hwang Sun-woo (47.79 seconds) rounded out the podium.
And just some six hours after smashing her own Asian Games record in the women’s 50m breaststroke, China’s Tang Qianting did it again in the final, chalking off another 0.05 seconds to finish in 29.45 seconds to win a second regional multi-sports games gold.
Japan’s Satomi Suzuki, who finished in 29.91 seconds, was sandwiched between a pair of Chinese swimmers as Yang Chang claimed bronze in 30.24 seconds.
In the men’s 100m backstroke final, China’s Xu Jiayu dominated all the way to clinch gold in an Asian Games record time of 51.98 seconds. Second and third place were only 0.01 seconds apart, with Hidekazu Takehara of Japan claiming silver in 53.93 seconds, just ahead of South Korea’s Lee Ju-ho.
Li Bingjie comfortably defended her 1,500m freestyle title.


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Hong Kong women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team celebrate after claiming silver at the Asian Games. Photo: Robert Ng

It was only Hong Kong’s second silver in the 4x100m freestyle relay at the Asian Games. Photo: Robert Ng

Gold medallist Yu Zidi celebrates on the podium after her dominant victory. Photo: AFP

Hong Kong’s Asian Games relay silver the big surprise on day when results went as expected

Grace Lau upgraded her medal in the Asian Games karate competition at the Toyohashi Gymnasium. Photo: Sam Tsang

Siobhan Haughey (second from right) with the Hong Kong 4x100m freestyle relay team. Photo: Robert Ng

Takumi Hojo of Japan won the men’s individual triathlon on Sunday. Photo: AP

Yu Zidi won the women’s 200m butterfly by more than three seconds, Photo: Robert Ng

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Alexandra Eala has opted to skip the mandatory China Open to represent the Philippines at the Asian Games. Photo: AFP

Ceci Lee (right) is hoping to claim gold in the omnium. Photo: Eugene Lee

Alexandra Eala claimed her first tour title at the Washington Open. Photo: AFP

Yu Zidi is already being touted as a future Olympic swimming champion. Photo: AFP

Amanda Yap is Singapore’s first balance beam world championships finalist. Photo: Getty Images

Oscar Coggins secured bronze at the National Games last year. Photo: Eugene Lee

Sport

China

City’s 4x100m freestyle relay team finish second in record-setting pace, while teen star Yu Zidi enjoys golden debut in Tokyo


City’s 4x100m freestyle relay team finish second in record-setting pace, while teen star Yu Zidi enjoys golden debut in Tokyo.


Yu Zidi

Zhang Yufei

Asian Games: Hong Kong women claim historic swim silver, Yu leads China domination

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}City’s 4x100m freestyle relay team finish second in record-setting pace, while teen star Yu Zidi enjoys golden debut in Tokyo

City’s 4x100m freestyle relay team finish second in record-setting pace, while teen star Yu Zidi enjoys golden debut in Tokyo