Champion Park ready to rock the pool

Park Tae-hwan of Republic of Korea starts the men's 200m freestyle final at the 16th Asian Gameson Sunday. Park won gold. Peter Parks / Agence France-Presse

GUANGZHOU - World and Olympic champion Park Tae-hwan of the Republic of Korea (ROK) will lead a world-class field into the pool on Tuesday when he takes on the Chinese duo of Zhang Lin and upcoming Sun Yang in the men's 400m freestyle.

Park defeated the Chinese pair in the men's 200m freestyle final on Sunday, and set an Asian record in the process.

He won this event at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, and is definitely the man to beat considering his current sizzling form.

However, Zhang, China's first male world swimming champion and world record holder in the 800m freestyle, is desperate for revenge against the Korean who defeated him three times in freestyle events at the 2006 Doha Asian Games. And teenager Sun, who has posted the season's fastest time in the 1,500m freestyle and came in second on Sunday in the 200m, is also a threat to 21-year-old Park.

"The Asian Games have not ended. I hope I can do well in the 400m freestyle," Park said.

Zhang Lin of China competes in the men's 200m freestyle. AFP

Sun is looking forward to pulling an upset.

"I proved my power by winning a silver in the 200m freestyle and I believe there is more to come in my next events," he said.

As for Zhang, he needs to find his form quickly.

"What happened yesterday is already past and I don't want to comment on it," Zhang said after winning the 4x200m freestyle on Monday with his teammates.

"I won't be knocked down," he wrote on his blog.

Meanwhile, Japan, a traditional swimming power, is counting on Ryosuke Irie, the 100m backstroke world champion who won the 200m race on Monday, to save some face as it has garnered only four gold medals so far, compared to China's 14.

Irie is looking for a golden double in the 100m today.

As usual, China, which passed the 50-gold mark on Monday, expects to harvest another large share of the 36 gold medals up for grabs on Tuesday.

In gymnastics, the host is favored to sweep the five gold medals on individual apparatus as Japan did not send its first-string team on the men's side and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was disqualified from the women's competition due to age fraud.

On the mat, judo goes into its final day of competition with the host judokas not having a single title so far, and desperate to make amends by claiming their share of the four gold medals up for grabs.

In team events, China will take on Chinese Taipei for the women's tennis team title, and the latter will also battle Uzbekistan for the men's team title.

In table tennis, China is eyeing a sweep of the team title. The men's side faces the ROK while the women's team meets Singapore.

In basketball, defending champion China faces Group E long-shot Mongolia at the Guangzhou International Sports Arena. In the other Group E matches, the ROK meet Uzbekistan at Yingdong Gymnasium while Jordan plays the DPRK. In Group F, medal contender Iran takes on the Philippines.

In men's soccer's round of 16, Japan meets India, the DPRK plays Vietnam, Turkmenistan faces Thailand and UAE takes on Kuwait.

China Daily

(China Daily 11/16/2010 page)