THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2014 SPORTS

ASIAN GAMES Gold glitters for India despite turmoil

NEW DELHI: India are seeking a record medal haul despite a chaotic build-up, with their jumbo squad slashed at the last minute, their boxers under a cloud and top athletes either ‘Big injured or opting out. With just 10 days to go, the intended travel- ling party of 942 athletes and officials was cut by nearly a third in Dragon’ chases a cost-saving move which discarded 146 competitors seen as hav- ing little chance of a medal. Separately India’s boxers, led by mul- gold tiple world champion Mary Kom, face the prospect of not being able to fight under the national flag following a row with the International Association. : When your parents give you a name like “Big Star boxer is out injured, while Olympic medal- Dragon,” chances are they expect great things from winning wrestler Sushil Kumar and India’s number one you. South Korea’s top badminton player Lee Yong-dae player are both concentrating on other com- has not let them down. Lee won the mixed doubles petitions. In a further blow to tennis hopes, doubles specialists crown as a 20-year-old at the 2008 Olympics Leander Paes, Rohan Bopanna and were granted per- with Lee Hyo-jung, and a bronze at the 2012 London mission by the All-India Tennis Association on Wednesday to skip Games in men’s doubles with Jung Jae-sung. the Games. India will not even compete in its strongest sport, Ranked number one in the world in men’s doubles , because the Indian board refuses to take part in multi-dis- with Yoo Yeon-seong, who he only partnered with last cipline events. year, Lee now aims to grab his first Asian Games gold after settling for silver and bronze medals in in 2010 and four years earlier. With his boyish good looks and squeaky-clean image, Lee has almost single-handedly raised badminton’s profile in South Korea, which hosts the Asian Games in , west of Seoul, from Sept. 19 to Oct 4. Dubbed “Wink Boy” by Korean media for his cheeky pose to the television cameras after winning gold in Beijing, Lee took up badminton at the age of eight at home in Hwasun County. “In the summer vacation of second grade I began to feel I was a too fat so wanted to do some exercise to lose weight,” he told badminton website Victor (www.victorsport.com). Located in South Jeolla Province at the southwestern tip of the Korean Peninsula, rural Hwasun is extremely proud of its favorite son. “Although Hwasun is a small place the locals are very willing to invest and have built a Lee Mary Kom Yong Dae Memorial Hall and Lee Yong Dae Sports Organizational headaches are not new to India, whose ath- Stadium, for which I am very grateful,” he said. At the letes marched under a neutral flag at this year’s Winter Olympics National Training Center in Taeneung earlier this following the suspension of the Indian Olympic Association. And month, Lee said Incheon represented his last chance to despite the problems, India are bullish about their prospects at win Asian Games gold. “This will be my third Asian the Asian Games, a 36-sport spectacular in Incheon, South Korea Games and probably my last,” he told local media. “I’ve which will open on September 19. “I am very optimistic we will always felt sad that I haven’t managed to win gold at get 70-75 medals, if not more,” declared Jiji Thomson, the director- the Asian Games.” general of the state-run Sports Authority of India (SAI). “The squad has been picked keeping medals in mind.” Missed doping tests Boxers in dark over flag However, Lee’s Asian Games dreams, not to men- India’s best Asian Games performance was winning 65 medals, tion his reputation, looked to have been shattered in including 14 golds, four years ago in Guangzhou, when they were January when the Badminton World Federation (BWF) coming off hosting the Commonwealth Games in .Even announced he had been hit with a one-year ban for this left them just sixth on the medals table, far behind ’s missing doping tests. The notion that the lovable Lee, 199 golds and one place behind Kazakhstan-not a large return for who had fronted a nationwide ‘Thank you, Mum’ cam- a country of 1.2 billion. India will take part in 28 disciplines after paign after the London Games, could be a drugs cheat others including bowling, karate, modern pentathlon, rugby, soft left Korean sports fans in a state of shock and legal tennis and triathlon were axed on Tuesday in the sports ministry’s experts were called in to help clear his name. cull. Their boxers will not know until a few days before the Games Three months later the BWF reversed the ban, open in Incheon whether they will compete under the national expunging Lee’s record after new evidence came to flag-if they are allowed in at all. The International Boxing light. South Korea’s badminton association admitted Association, which suspended the Indian federation in 2012 due the situation had arisen due to their administrative to election malpractice, wants polls to a provisional body to be errors and that Lee and Kim Ki-jung, who had also held by September 11. been banned, were not at fault. Lee has been in blister- “If elections are not held on that day or ratified by the world ing form since returning to competition and, despite body, our boxers will not be allowed to participate under the losing out in the final of the men’s doubles at the Indian flag,” said SAI’s Thomson. India’s boxers may not be able to compete at all if they are not given permission to appear as inde- recent BWF World Championships, he will be a hot pendents by the , the body behind the favorite to win gold on home soil this month. Lee and Asian Games. India may also suffer from the loss of cue sports, Yoo lost to compatriots Ko Sung-hyun and Shin Baek- chess and roller sports, the source of eight of their medals in cheol in the world championships final in Guangzhou, which are no longer part of the Asiad schedule. Copenhagen, leaving Lee with his third silver medal after finishing runner-up in 2007 and 2009. Kabaddi kings Lee, who also has two bronze medals from the 2009 Five of India’s 14 gold medals in 2010 came from track and and 2011 world championships, said his long wait for a field, but they fared poorly at this year’s Glasgow Commonwealth gold medal had started to play on his mind in the Games where discus-thrower was their only winner. finals. “This was my third silver medal at the world India’s first and only Olympic individual gold medalist, Abhinav championships,” Yonhap News agency quoted Lee as Bindra, leads a strong shooting squad even though China and saying. “No matter how hard I try, I find myself becom- hosts South Korea are runaway favorites in most events on the ing conscious of that. I think Sung-hyun and Baek-che- ranges. At Guangzhou, India won just one gold medal in shooting ol were more relaxed than our team.” With two silver through double-trap marksman . But the hockey and two bronze medals from the Asian Games already team’s Australian coach Terry Walsh, encouraged by their second- in his possession, South Korea will hope Lee’s desire for place finish in Glasgow, is hoping to end the country’s Asian gold does not cloud his focus in Incheon. “We’ll try to Games drought in a sport it once ruled. learn from this experience and hopefully we can per- The eight-time Olympic champions have won the Asiad title : Indonesian sepak takraw players take part in a practice session in Jakarta ahead of the 17th Asian form better if we reach the final at the Asian Games,” just twice, both times in in 1966 and 1998. In compari- Games in Incheon from September 19 to October 4. is targeting their medal hopes in sepak takraw in he added. — Reuters son, arch-rivals have eight golds to their credit. As an the top Asian sporting event. — AFP extra incentive, the winner of the 10-nation hockey competition will gain a direct entry to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Indian badminton is banking on PV Sindhu, a semi-finalist at the recent world championships, and world number seven Saina World Champions Nehwal to break China’s stranglehold in the sport. There is at least one sport in which India will shine-kabaddi, the home- grown -style discipline in which they have won every Asiad title so far. — AFP cast shadow over Asian Games

China set to crank BEIJING: China’s dominance of the gymnastics hold on the team’s event having finished sec- She is the highest-ranked Asian in the sport, The Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) competition at the Asian Games is expected to ond behind them in the past two Olympics. The though will face a tough challenge from China’s decided not to send any gymnasts after Caesar up the gold medal continue unabated despite their sport’s officials rhythmic gymnastics will also be affected by Deng Senyue, who pipped her for two individ- failed to make the all-around final at the recent conceding they were sending what was essen- their own world championships, which are in ual apparatus medals at last year’s Asian Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and BOA machine again tially a ‘B’ team to compete at Incheon. While Izmir, Turkey from Sept. 22-28 with the Asian Championships, even though Son won the all- official Rafiqul Islam told Bangladesh’s Daily Star the Chinese have won 123 of the 175 gold Games competition held on Oct 1-2. South around title. While the powerhouses have cho- the 23-year-old’s future selection depended on medals awarded since artistic gymnastics was Korea’s Son Yeon-jae, who finished fifth at the sen to concentrate on the world champi- a better performance at Incheon. Malaysia’s BEIJING: With huge resources, a Soviet-style sports regime introduced at the in , London Olympics, will rush from Turkey to onships, several of the smaller nations have Gymnastics Federation also opted not to send geared to churning out champions and an insatiable desire their priority this year is on the world champi- Incheon where she is the hot favorite to win been beset by selection squabbles and con- any male athletes to Incheon, prompting an to win gold, the question is not whether China will top the onships, scheduled for Nanning from Oct 3-12, gold in the all-around competition. The 20-year- cerns over continued funding if they do not angry outburst by Mohd Hamzaruddin Nordin, medal standings at the Incheon Asian Games but by how rather than the pan-continental competition. old became the first Korean to win a rhythmic perform in Korea. Bangladesh’s London who failed to qualify for an apparatus final in much. China has reigned supreme since finishing top of the Chinese media have said that multiple gymnastics medal when she took bronze in Olympian Quazi Syque Caesar, who was born Glasgow. “It’s very disappointing. Sometimes, it table at the Asian Games it hosted in 1990 and sent records Olympic champion will headline their Guangzhou and become one of Korea’s more and raised in the United States, was only includ- can’t just all be about medals. We need to gain tumbling ever since. contingent for the Sept 21-25 competition in high-profile athletes where she tops polls as the ed in the team after intervention by the coun- some experience too,” he was quoted as saying Still basking in the runaway success of the 2008 Beijing Incheon, where 14 gold medals are up for country’s favourite athlete. try’s sports minister. by the Malaysian Star last month. —Reuters Olympics, China reaped a record 416 medals at the last Asian grabs. Zou, who won three gold medals at the Games at home in Guangzhou, with its tally of 199 gold 2008 Beijing Olympics, was dropped from medals nearly three times the haul of runners-up South China’s team for the in Korea. Set to unleash a mammoth delegation of 899 mem- Guangzhou because of his apparent weakness Bling dynasty! China hope bers on Incheon, the Games’ largest, China will look to in events that did not make him a contender for eclipse that mark again while providing a report card on their the all-around title. He returned to the team in athletes’ progress halfway through the Olympic cycle. 2011 and then defended his Olympic floor title swim king Sun will shine Courtesy demanded that the full roster of China’s champi- at London, anchored China to the team title ons turned up to Guangzhou, but some of the national feder- and secured a bronze in the horizontal bar. His BEIJING: China are hoping their swim king Chinese sports chiefs unsurprisingly took a 200m and 400m freestyle, which look set to be ations are not taking Incheon quite so seriously. Gymnastics six Olympic medals make him the most deco- can turn over a new leaf and shake dim view of Sun’s antics and promptly banned a three-way scrap between Sun, South Korea’s officials have already conceded they are sending a ‘B’ team to rated Chinese gymnast of all time and tied as off his bling and bad boy image as he heads to him for six months, slamming him for “violat- Park Tae-Hwan and the Japanese Kosuke South Korea, saving their best for the world championships the most successful Chinese athlete across all South Korea for this month’s Asian Games. Sun, ing the basic principles of morality”, according Hagino. “I’m slowly getting back the levels of in October, while the country’s top tennis players and sports. While Zou will headline the Chinese well known for his penchant for fast cars, glam- to state media. He was also embroiled in a oxygen capacity and speed that I had at the Peng Shuai have opted out. Double Olympic team, local hopes will rest on Olympic vault orous women and Western pop music, is the public row with his coach after reacting furi- London Olympics,” Sun told the Nanjing champion Wu Jingyu is also a serious doubt to travel to champion Yang Hak-seon, the two-time world history-making Olympic champion whose ously to being ordered to end his dalliance Morning Post. “In the short distances my level Incheon, having checked into hospital for an unspecified ill- champion in the discipline. Yang first shot to explosive talent is often matched by his ability with a flight attendant, and accused of break- has even surpassed my Olympics standard,” he ness, she announced on her microblog. prominence by winning the vault title at the to court controversy. But China will hope the ing team curfews to sneak out for clandestine added, firing a warning to his rivals. Despite the absences, China will have more than enough 2010 Asian Games and then followed that with bust-ups and suspensions are a thing of the dates. It was also claimed that Sun-a big Avril “I have also seen other (competitors’) per- in reserve to reap rivers of gold from , , table the gold in London two years later, becoming past as the towering Sun spearheads his coun- Lavigne fan who wanted to become a pop star formances and as long as I maintain my sys- tennis, shooting and badminton, and will also expect medals the first South Korean to win an Olympics gym- try’s charge in the pool at Incheon, where they as a child-protested by refusing to train. The tematic training, it won’t be difficult for me to from judo, taekwondo and canoeing, among others. China’s nastics gold. are expected to face fierce competition from athlete’s prickly streak certainly polarises pop- reach that same level.” Sun and Park dead- highly anticipated battle with for supremacy in the He retained his world title in the event last the host nation and Japan. ular opinion in China, where critics have com- heated for the 200m silver medal at the Guangzhou pool fizzled out with the hosts trouncing their year in Antwerp and told local media he would Sun shot to fame in London two years ago plained he lacks respect. London Olympics behind Frenchman Yannick war-time foes. look to use his customized “Yang 2” vault at by becoming the first Chinese man to capture Agnel. The Korean tipped out Sun for gold at That Games heralded the arrival of distance swimming Incheon, even though he was successfully land- Olympic swimming gold when he stormed to Winning return the last Asian Games in Guangzhou four years sensation Sun Yang, who threatened the 1,500 metres ing it less than 50 percent of the time in train- the 400 metres and 1500m freestyle titles. A But there is little doubt the 1.98m (6ft 6in) ago, giving the Chinese extra incentive to put freestyle world record then held by Australian Grant Hackett ing. His biggest threat in the event is expected world championship treble in Barcelona last Sun, who holds the world record for the the record straight in Park’s home country. before breaking it in Shanghai a year later to become world to be ’s Ri Se Gwang, the vault year underlined his status as one of the sport’s 1,500m freestyle, is crucial to his country’s China scooped 24 of the 38 swimming gold champion. The reigning Olympic 1,500m and 800m freestyle champion at the . Men’s biggest stars. He made headlines for all the Asian Games hopes, having returned from sus- medals in Guangzhou and will need Sun to be world champion, Sun’s battle with 2008 Olympic 400m Olympic all-around champion Kohei Uchimura wrong reasons last November, however, when pension in May by winning the national 200m on song to boost the team’s bid to hold off the champion Park Tae-hwan of South Korea will be a highlight is also expected to lead Japan’s challenge at he was arrested for driving his Porsche without title, clocking an impressive 1min 46.04sec. He challenge of South Korea, and from a Japan of the Games, with the pair expected to go head-to-head for Incheon and with China sending a weakened a licence after colliding with a bus in his home- is expected to concentrate on the shorter dis- team buoyed by their recent success at the Pan the 200 and 400 titles. —Reuters squad no doubt keen to usurp their strangle- town of and locked up for a week. tances in Incheon, adding spice to the men’s Pacific championships in Australia. — AFP