SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018 20

The unified Korean women’s canoeing team competes in women’s 200-meter dragon boat race Weightlifter sets eternal record Unified Korea win tearful bronze

AFP | and to my country. I always represent my country, never lose an opportunity,” ran’s Sohrab Moradi set a weight- Istomin said. lifting world record that could World champion Kento Momota was Ilast forever on Saturday as tearful sent crashing out of the men’s badmin- North and South Korean athletes com- ton by Anthony Ginting as the home bined to win a highly symbolic medal favourite raised the roof at the Jakarta at the Asian Games. arena. Olympic champion Moradi, who The crowd’s loudest cheer of the served a two-year doping ban from night was for homegrown teenage 2013, hoisted a 189kg snatch en route to sprinter Lalu Zohri’s victory in his victory in the men’s 94kg class, break- 100m heat. ing weightlifting’s longest standing The rags-to-riches story of world world record set in 1999. junior 100m champion Lalu -- who Moradi’s lift could stay on the record hails from earthquake-struck north- books in perpetuity as after the Games ern Lombok, and grew up in a bamboo in , all the weight classes will shack -- has won hearts across Indo- change beginning with November’s nesia. world championships. In the final medal event of the day, “I feel very happy to know that my Tajinderpal Singh Toor claimed India’s name will always remain on all the 94kg ninth-ever gold in the men’s shot put, world records,” beamed the Iranian. but their first since 2002. Moradi’s triumph for the ages came At the end of day seven, had on a day when the Unified Korea team, extended their lead on the medals table, testament to this year’s marked im - with 72 golds to ’s 34 and 25 for provement in Korean ties, won an emo- . tional dragon boating bronze medal. About 17,000 athletes and officials The North and South Korean athletes are taking part in the 18th Asian Games, were in tears as they sung “Arirang”, a the biggest sports event in Indonesia’s traditional Korean folk song, to cele- 1 Sohrab Moradi of performs a lift to break the world record in the men’s 94kg class weightlifting event history. brate winning their medal. Both Korean teams marched together seeing each other but we both know China’s Su Bingtian, joint holder of at the opening ceremony and they have the same song and speak the same lan- Asia’s men’s 100m record, eased into also joined forces in rowing and wom- guage.” the semis. en’s basketball at the regional Olympics. China continued its dominance of “I was deeply emotional,” said South Cat’s amazing the women’s hammer, claiming both Korean canoeist Eun Jeong-byun. A cat strayed onto the track during the gold and silver for the fifth consecutive “We’re divided and forbidden from women’s 100m hurdles heats, after Asian Games -- a record stretching back to the sport’s introduction. And Daria Maslova won Kyrgyzstan’s Medal list first ever track medal at the regional Olympics, storming home in the wom- en’s 10,000m with a time of 32:07.23. Rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total In tennis, ’s world num- 1 China 72 51 30 153 ber 75 Denis Istomin beat China’s Wu 2 Japan 34 31 44 109 Yibing in three sets to win men’s singles 3 S Korea 25 26 33 84 gold -- before jumping on a plane for 4 Iran 14 11 9 34 a 27-hour journey to the US Open in 5 Indonesia 10 12 16 38 New York. 6 N Korea 10 5 6 21 Istomin, 31, came from behind to 7 8 8 24 40 beat the reigning US Open boys’ cham- 8 India 7 5 17 29 pion 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7/2) in Palembang. 9 Taipei 6 11 13 30 10 Uzbekistan 5 10 7 22 He plays his first-round match at the 25 Bahrain 0 2 0 2 season’s final Grand Slam on Monday. Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin plays a shot against India’s Prajnesh Gunneswaran during their men’s “I think it shows it means a lot to me singles semi-final tennis match