GUANGZHOU - Chinese swimmer Tang Li and gymnast Sui Lu became the most decorated athletes in the Asian Games with four golds on Tuesday but South Korean super star Park Tae-hwan stole the limelight after completing a golden triple in the pool.
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Park, one of South Korea's most glittering stars, had won two gold medals in 200m and 400m. He is expected to win a fourth in the 1,500m, which he won four years ago in Doha, on Thursday, the last day's swimming competition.
"I am very happy with the result," said an excited Park. "I am not good at the 100m free, but I performed pretty well today. My teammates and coach gave me lots of encouragement before the final."
The wunderkind flopped at last year's Rome world championships as he failed to qualify for any finals there, but he came into the Asian Games after an impressive win in the 400m freestyle at August's Pan Pacific Championships in California.
"I am back in my best," Park said. "I went through a difficult year in 2009. After the world championships, I doubled my effort in training. Now I think the three gold medals are my rewards."
Sui, the 2009 world bronze medalist on floor exercise, took two gold medals on the day in floor and beam, adding to her titles earlier in the team and all-around events.
"I did not think of getting four medals before the Games. I am quite satisfied with my performance," said Sui.
Tang Yi's fourth gold came from the women's 100m freestyle in 54.12 seconds. All the other three titles were from the relay events. Aged at only 13, she took the part in the Doha Asian Games and won a gold medal in the 4X200m freestyle relay.
The Shanghai native has also got two silvers in the 50m and 200m freestyle events.
"It was not easy to get this medal tonight," Tang said. "I wanted to go faster but maybe I didn't because I swam in too many races at the Games and am a bit tired."
China won three of the six golds in the pool through Zhao Jing (women's 100m backstroke) and 16-year-old Li Xuanxu (women's 800m freestyle), taking their gold tally to 22. Japan, who grabbed 16 four years ago, was second with six and South Korea third with four. The last six gold medals will be decided on Thursday night.
South Korea's Jeong Da-rae won gold in the women's 200m breaststroke and Japan's Ken Takakuwa clinched the men's 200m individual medley.
Four-time Olympic champion Kosuke Kitajima was forced out of Thursday's 200m breaststroke with shoulder injury, having his dream of winning a third consecutive Asiad double smashed.
Sui Lu's win in beam and floor was two of China's four gold medals won in the last day's competition of gymnastics. Feng Zhe prevailed in the men's parallel bars and Zhang Chenglong proved the winner in the men's horizontal bar.
South Korea's Yang Hak Seon was the only non-Chinese to monopolize an event in gymnastics. His compatriot Kim Soo Myun shared the gold with Chinese Zhang Chenglong in the men's floor event on Tuesday.
In shooting, South Korea continued their winning momentum, winning another two to extend their gold tally to 10, compared with three titles won in the 2006 Doha Asiad. China got two to raise its total to 14 and DPR Korea claimed the other two.
Wang Chengyi of China clinched two titles from women's 50m rifle 3 positions to increase her Asiad gold harvest to three.
The accomplishment of the South Korean team excited the South Korean media, and made the South Korean shooters and coaches among the busiest interviewees in Guangzhou Aoti shooting range.
"We did a lot of work before the Asiad," said Cha Young Chul, coach of South Korea's most famous marksman Jin Jong-oh. "Young shooters in South Korea may have fallen behind at the beginning of their careers, because of their comparatively short training time, but their love of shooting keeps them going, and they finally caught up with others."
Guo Shuang also won her third gold medal in the women's sprint, becoming the first female track cyclist to win three Asiad golds.
In weightlifting, Olympic champions Liu Chunhong and Lu Yong brought China two gold medals, in the women's 69kg and men's 85kg categories respectively.
The 25-year-old Liu, who won the event in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, didn't need to lift in her final jerk, while Lu, second finisher in Doha, counted on the failure of South Korean rival Kim Kwang Hoon in the last attempt for the difficult victory.
"Winning the Asiad gold is important, but the upcoming winter training is more important for me as it is crucial in the preparation for the London Olympics," said Lu.
The taekwondo competition got underway on Wednesday and Iran surprised all to become the winner of two golds while the sport's homeland South Korea got only one silver. China and Chinese Taipei took one gold apiece.
Elsewhere, China beat Kazakhstan 13-5 to claim the women's water polo title. Former NBA player Wang Zhizhi led China to a 98-62 thrashing of DPR Korea in a Group E match.
After Day 5, China topped the medal tally with 97 gold medals, South Korea is second with 29 and Japan third with 17. DPR Korea and Iran are fourth and fifth, each winning five golds.
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