The young Chinese swimmer Zhang Zhanshu concluded the Asian Games with a historic achievement, after he became the first swimmer to win 7 gold medals in one edition of the Games, confirming his rise as a new star in the skies of Asian swimming, while China continued to impose its absolute dominance in the swimming pools.
On the closing night at the Tokyo Aquatics Center, 19-year-old Zhang added gold in the 400-meter freestyle to his tally, setting a new Games record of 3 minutes and 41.28 seconds. After crossing the finish line, he raised 7 fingers in celebration of his exceptional achievement, which will go down in the championship records.
Zhang won gold in the 200, 400, and 1,500 meter freestyle races, in addition to 3 golds in the relay races, raising his tally to 7 golds, exceeding the previous record of 6 gold medals, recorded by Chinese Zhang Yufei and Japanese Rikako Ike.
He was only surpassed in total medals during one Asian tournament by North Korean shooter Soo Jin-man, who collected 7 golds and a silver in the New Delhi tournament in 1982.
However, the Chinese swimmer seemed far from being satisfied with what he had achieved, stressing that his ambitions go beyond the borders of the Asian continent. He said: “The Asian Games are not my ultimate goal. “I still aspire to participate in the Olympic Games and compete with the best swimmers in the world.”
Zhang is seen as one of the most prominent candidates to lead Chinese swimming in the coming years, and perhaps the natural heir to Sun Yang, one of the most successful and controversial swimmers in the country's history.
Zhang's gold tally contributed to China ending the swimming competitions with a huge tally of 30 gold medals out of 41 races, while Japan came second by a wide margin after being satisfied with 7 golds.
The tournament also represented an ideal platform for the emergence of a new generation of talent, as 13-year-old Chinese Yu Zi Di caught the attention by winning three gold medals, while Japanese Shin Ohashi achieved a remarkable achievement by winning the 200-meter breaststroke title while breaking the world record.
But experienced people had another opinion as well. Chen Haiyang retained the 50-meter breaststroke title, beating Ohashi, who settled for bronze.
Zhang Yufei also continued her brilliance by winning a gold medal in the 50-meter butterfly, adding her fourth title in the championship, before making an impact on the podium, in a race that brought to mind chapters of her long rivalry with Japan's Rikako Ike.
Despite Chinese dominance, the Philippines found space to celebrate thanks to its Olympic champion Carlos Yulo, who won gold on vault in gymnastics. The achievement came just one day after he was crowned with floor exercise gold, despite the difficulties he faced in the qualifiers.
“Today was like a miracle,” Yolo said. “I felt afraid during training after I failed to execute the movement properly, but I trusted my abilities.”
In table tennis, Chinese dominance that lasted for decades fell after the Japanese national team snatched the men's gold with a 3-2 victory in the final, depriving China of the title for the first time since the 1990 Beijing tournament. Tomokazu Harimoto was the Japanese achievement champion, after achieving two decisive victories, including a landslide victory over world number one Wang Zhuqin.
“What was missing was the belief that we could defeat them,” Harimoto said. Today we finally got what we had been missing for a long time...confidence.”
On the other hand, China quickly regained some of its prestige, after the women's team won team gold for the sixth time in a row following a landslide victory over Japan in the final.
Uruguayan Diego Forlan faced a painful start to his career as coach of his country's national team, as he suffered a harsh loss to his host, Japan, with a score of 1-3, in the friendly match that was held between them on Thursday.
In the Japanese city of Miyagi, the Uruguay national team conceded two goals from the hosts during stoppage time of the second half, and the former striker, who was appointed to succeed Argentine Marcelo Bielsa, watched his team succeed in returning to the match and achieving a draw, before defensive lapses in the last moments led to the victory being given to the Asian team.
Koryo Matsuki scored early for Japan, but Maximiliano Araujo equalized shortly before the end of the first half, crowning a strong and desperate response from the Uruguay national team.
However, a complete defensive collapse in stoppage time allowed Kento Shiugai and Ayase Ueda to score past goalkeeper Santiago Meli and snatch the win.
Speaking to the media after the final whistle, Forlan admitted that he was expecting a very difficult confrontation against a coach he had previously met during his career as a player in the Japanese League.
The new coach of the Uruguay national team praised the highly organized team of Japanese coach Hajime Moriyasu, saying: “We played against a team whose coach I know well, as I faced them during my time with the Sanfrecce Hiroshima team.”
He added: “He relies a lot on team play and exchanging balls, and he improves the preparation of his teams in an excellent way, and his imprint is completely clear after the period he spent leading the Japanese national team.”
In his analysis of the match, which was characterized by equality before it was decided by a loss of concentration in a fleeting moment, Forlan added: “It was a very equal match, and it is truly unfortunate that they took advantage of those opportunities in stoppage time to emerge victorious in the match.”
Despite the bitterness of losing in his first match with Uruguay, the former Manchester United striker stressed that the final result was not fair to his players and did not reflect the true level they performed in the match.
Forlan defended his team, whose players traveled on an arduous flight across the Pacific Ocean, as he told reporters: “The difference in the score is very large, given the course of the match. We had several opportunities to score in both the first and second half.”
He continued: “I am very grateful to the players, as they made a tremendous effort after the exhausting travel journey to get here. “It was clear on the field and they performed very well, but unfortunately, this is the nature of football.”
Forlan concluded his statements by saying that the result does not reflect the reality of what happened in the match. However, these are the rules of the game and we must accept them.”
