Oo loses silver and China continue to pile up the medals By Peter Auf der Heyde

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dpa German Press Agency
Published: Monday December 11, 2006

By Peter Auf der Heyde, Doha, Qatar- The events Monday at the 15th Asian Games were overshadowed by the announcement that yet another weightlifter had failed a dope test. But unlike the previous three cases which had been outside the medal positions, Oo Mya Sanda had won a silver medal in the women's 75kg division, which was confiscated after she tested positive for a banned metabolite of an anabolic agent.

The silver medal was instead awarded to Kim Soon Hee from South Korea, while Indonesia's Sinta Darmariani took the bronze.

In the athletics competition, China dominated, taking three of the day's nine gold medals.

Xue Fei took the women's 5,000 metres, Xie Limei the women's triple jump and Song Aimin the women's discuss.

There were two gold medals for Bahrain, as Kenyan-born Kamal Yusuf Saad won the men's 800m in a time of 1:45.74, while Ruqaya Al Ghasara won the women's 200m.

For Al Ghasara, who wears a hijab when she runs, winning the gold medal did not come as a surprise. "I was expecting to win the gold because this is my speciality.

She said that she did not find wearing a hijab a hindrance. "Wearing conservative clothes has encouraged me. Wearing a veil proves that Muslim women face no obstacles and encourages them to participate in sport. This is a glory to all Muslim women."

The other gold medals of the day went to Japan in the men's 200m through Shingo Suetsugu, Saudi Arabian Sultan Abdulmajeed Al Hebshi won the men's shot put, while Kazakhstan's Marina Aitova took the women's high jump.

Her team-mate Dmitriy Karpov won the men's decathlon.

China dominated the beach volleyball, taking both the men's and women's, as well as the canoe/kayak competition, where they took three of the four gold medals (men's C2 1,000m; men's K1 1,000m and men's K2 1,000m), while Uzbekistan won the men's C1 1,000m.

China also dominated the sailing event, winning the women's mistral gold medal and the men's mistral heavy division. Hong Kong won the men's mistral light event.

The two diving gold medals for the day both went to China (men's synchro 10m platform and women's 3m synchro sprigboard).

The team's equestrian jumping gold medal went to Saudi Arabia, while the women's individual pursuit on the cycling track was won by South Korea's Lee Min Hye.

The women's individual gold medal in the archery was won by Park Sung Hyun from South Korea.

On the golf course there was a clean sweep for South Korean golfers as they took all four gold medals.

Kim Kyung Tae, who was lying a shot behind Taiwan's Pan Cheng Tsung going into the final round, won the men's individual gold medal from Pan.

The turning point of the round came at the par 3, 13th hole where Tae managed a birdie, while Pan played a double bogie 5. Although the Taiwanese player managed to pull a shot back on the par 3 17th, both players played a par 5 on the final hole to give Kim a one shot win.

The bronze went to Michael Bibat from the Philippines.

In the individual women's event, Ryu So Yeon had a comfortable victory with a 29 under par 263 over her four rounds, beating Mika Miyazato by nine shots. Ryu's team-mate Choi He Yong won the bronze.

The two also teamed up to give South Korea the women's team gold medal, beating Japan and Taiwan.

South Korea also won the men's team gold medal, with India winning the silver ahead of Taiwan.

Kim said that they had decided to concentrate on winning the gold for South Korea in the team event. "We knew that if we did well in the team event, individual medals will just come along. This individual gold medal is just a bonus."

The men's individual fencing epee medal went to China, while the women's individual foil was won by South Korean Nam Hyun Hee.

Japan completely dominated the women's wrestling, taking the freestyle 48kg, the 55kg and the 63kg divisions, leaving just the 72kg division for the Chinese.

They also won gold in the rugby competition with a last minute try to beat South Korea 27-26.

Taiwan's Liu Shin Mei won the women's 9 ball pool-singles competition in the cue competition.

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency