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NAGOYA: Taiwan boxer Lin Yu-ting won Asian Games gold on Friday, two years after she was embroiled in a gender row at the Olympics, as hosts Japan beat North Korea on penalties to win football gold.
China’s Wang Xiyu, fresh from conquering top seed Alexandra Eala, toppled compatriot Zhang Shuai to seal the women’s tennis singles title -- and a ticket to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
It helped bolster China’s runaway haul of gold medals to 162, with hosts Japan a distant second with 71.A Games marred by organisational chaos in Aichi-Nagoya will close on Sunday.Lin beat China’s Yang Chengyu 5-0 in the women’s 60kg final, giving her a second Asian Games gold after winning in the 57kg class three years ago.
Lin told AFP before the Games that she had considered retiring after winning gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics but wanted to carry on fighting in part to defy those who questioned her eligibility.
She said after victory in Nagoya that she had been “waiting for that moment when the light breaks through”.“It was really not easy at all,” she said.“It’s rare to finally reach that point where you see the dawn, and I’m just so grateful to myself for making it through.”
Lin and Imane Khelif of Algeria found themselves in the middle of a major gender row at the 2024 Olympics, with Donald Trump, Elon Musk and author J.K. Rowling among those wading in.
The two boxers had been disqualified from the 2023 world championships by the International Boxing Association (IBA) after the organisation said they failed unspecified gender eligibility tests.
However, the IOC allowed them to compete in Paris, saying they were victims of “a sudden and arbitrary decision” by the widely discredited IBA. Both went on to win gold.In tennis, Wang breezed past her compatriot Zhang 6-2, 6-1 in 66 minutes.
Tennis is one of seven sports at the Games where the winners receive an Olympic qualification place.In the final action of the day, Japan’s women’s football team defeated North Korea 5-3 on penalties, after their final was deadlocked at 2-2 after 120 minutes.The home side had been just four minutes from defeat, but Hanon Nishio saved them with a dramatic 86th-minute equaliser to force the added time.
Into the future
Taekwondo dates back more than 2,000 years, but the Korean martial art stepped into a not-so-brave future where nobody gets hurt.A modest number of spectators watched with a mix of fascination and bewilderment as virtual taekwondo made its Games debut.
Taekwondo officials have billed it as “real-world martial arts meets cutting-edge virtual technology”.The two combatants stand within their own play area a few metres apart.The goal is to aim real kicks to the virtual body and head of their opponent to deplete their computerised health bar.
The opponent is physically there, standing on an opposing side, but there is never any real-life contact.Asked what he could see through the VR headset, Singaporean bronze medallist Darren Yap said: “You can see your health bar, your opponent’s character, your limbs.“It’s actually quite nice to wear.”
Biting controversy
Japanese judo officials said they had never seen anything like it after eventual champion Rin Maeda appeared to be bitten by her Chinese opponent.Maeda was awarded victory in the quarter-final bout when Tang Jing was disqualified just over a minute into the contest.
