MACAU, Oct 31: China’s spectacular start to the East Asian Games continued on Monday as the Asian giant bagged another 10 gold medals to put further daylight between it and its closest rivals.

China, building towards the 2008 Beijing Olympics, remained unbeaten after six weightlifting events and dominated the diving, gymnastics and wushu along with hosts Macau.

Japan and South Korea, China’s closest rivals at the three previous Games, could muster only four gold medals between them in comparison to China’s 30 after only two full days of competition.

Hosts Macau remained in second place on the medals chart with seven victories in Chinese martial art wushu and dragon-boating.

Dark horses North Korea proved the only stumbling block for the Chinese as they ended their perfect record in the diving.

World champions Yuan Peilin and Jia Tong were cruising in the women’s 10m synchronised platform but a rare blunder on their fourth dive gifted North Korea’s Hong In-sun and Choe Kum-hui victory.

Yuan and Jia later said they were nervous because they had never competed against North Korea before.

Luo Yutong had earlier claimed his second gold medal of the Games in the men’s 1m springboard, to add to his 3m springboard title on Sunday, while Ma Qianli won the women’s 3m springboard. China won all three diving events on Sunday.

Retiring Olympic champion Chen Yanqing shed tears as she bade farewell to competitive weightlifting by winning the 58kg category with a Games-record total of 228kg.

Deng Jian-ying took gold with 218kg in the women’s 53kg and Chen Chufu won the men’s 69kg with a lift of 326kg.

China’s women gymnasts joined the men as team champions and Chen Min claimed her second wushu title with victory in the women’s changquan.

Meanwhile Japan and South Korea finally got off the mark but will need a dramatic improvement in the athletics and swimming events, starting on Tuesday and Wednesday, if they are to mount any kind of challenge.

South Korea won both the men’s and women’s singles bowling while Lee Seung-kuen took the men’s nanquan to break China and Macau’s dominance of the 19 wushu events.

Japan’s sole success came in the women’s team soft tennis.

About 1,900 athletes are competing for 234 gold medals in 17 sports at the fourth East Asian Games, the biggest tournament ever held in this autonomous southern Chinese territory.

China has brought its biggest ever squad, including 11 Athens Olympics gold-medallists and a host of younger talent, as it bids to top the medals table at the next Olympics in Beijing.—Agencies