Berliner Tageblatt - China teen blows away the field for record-setting gold at 'sad' Games

Golds were up for grabs on day eight in sports including athletics, diving, skateboarding, squash and weightlifting.

On another wet day in Aichi-Nagoya, the teenager Yan demolished the opposition in the women's javelin with her first and only throw of the night of 70.46m.

It was a new Games record, smashing the 66.09m by compatriot Liu Shiying in 2018, and left Japan's reigning Olympic champion Haruka Kitaguchi in a distant second for silver (62.70m).

Yan's incredible throw was the sixth best of all time. The world record is 72.28m by Barbora Spotakova in 2008.

But Yan is closing in -- she hurled 71.74m in May, the second best of all time.

On the track, Thailand's Puripol Boonson made it a sprint double, winning the men's 200m to go with his 100m crown.

His scintillating 19.88sec equalled the Asian record.

Asked how much faster he can run, the 20-year-old said: "I can't say how fast it's going to be, but it's going to be more records and faster."

- Eyes on LA -

Towards the end of day eight, China topped the medals table with 119 golds, with Japan second on 37 and South Korea on 20.

North Korea enjoyed more record-setting success in weightlifting, taking their overall haul in the sport to six golds out of an available 10 so far.

China maintained their unbeaten start in diving, while a pair of teenagers took gold in the street skateboarding finals.

China's Zhu Yuanling, 15, won the women's event and the 17-year-old Juni Kang of South Korea took the men's title.

Kang now has his eyes on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

"I want to be No.1 in LA," he said.

Malaysia reigned in the squash, with Ng Eain Yow winning the men's crown and compatriot Sivasangari Subramaniam prevailing in the women's singles.

Both booked spots to Los Angeles in the process.

- 'It was sad' -

Organisers in Aichi-Nagoya did not build a traditional athletes' village in a bid to save money, with competitors instead staying in hotels or temporary wooden units, and on a cruise ship.

India's multiple badminton medallist H.S. Prannoy said that made for a disappointing experience.

"It was sad," the 34-year-old, who won team bronze, said in a YouTube video published by the Badminton Association of India.

"It never felt like we were playing in an Asian Games, to be honest."

There have been a series of problems at the Games, including a shortage of rooms, long delays at the airport and poor transport services.

Uzbekistan's Nodirbek Shavkatov became the first medallist at the Games to test positive for doping.

Shavkatov, who won bronze in mixed martial arts, has been provisionally suspended after testing positive for the banned substance meldonium, the International Testing Agency said.

The drug is a prescription heart medication that can improve endurance and accelerates muscle recovery.

R.Adler--BTB