INCHEON: Qatar’s Femi Ogunode broke the 10-second mark at the Asian Games for the first time, splashing his way through the rain to 100 metres gold on Sunday with a time of 9.93 seconds, firmly indicating his determination to contend for an Olympic podium appearance two years from now in Rio.

At the halfway mark of the 16-day competition, Japanese freestyle wrestler Saori Yoshida won her fourth consecutive Asian Games gold in the women’s 55kg class, while South Korea’s big-hitting baseball team finally overcame stubborn Taiwan to win a tense final 6-3.

As China soared past 100 medal mark and second-placed South Korea put daylight between themselves and rivals Japan, Nigeria-born Ogunode was all smiles after he lowered the Asian mark by 0.06sec and motored home ahead of China’s Su Bingtian and Japan’s Kei Takase.

Hopes of the first sub-10sec run by an Asian-born athlete were doused as Su timed 10.10, Takase clocked 10.15 and Zhang Peimeng was fourth in 10.18.

“I don’t even know what to say. I’m so grateful and happy,” said Ogunode, who has been training on his own in Doha without a coach for the last five months. “I have confidence in myself, I can challenge anybody. I see myself winning the Olympic gold.”

In the women’s blue riband sprint, China’s Wei Yongli pipped defending champion Chisato Fukushima of Japan by a hundredth of a second, with Kazakhstan’s Olga Safronova another hundredth back in third.

“I didn’t think I could be the champion,” said Wei. “I had a very good coach from America.”

Bahrain’s Ruth Jebet finally got her hands on a gold medal after her disqualification from the women’s steeplechase the previous night was overturned.

The Kenyan-born 17-year-old had momentarily stepped off the track during her run at the Asiad Main Stadium and was then stunningly stripped of her gold medal while waiting for the prize-giving ceremony and had to be led away in tears.

However, reviews later showed that her infraction had not impeded any of her competitors and the decision was reversed, allowing Jebet to stand atop the podium at a rearranged ceremony on Sunday.

“I was quite shocked because I wasn’t even aware of the mistake,” she said at a news conference. “I’m happy to become a gold medallist because I had a problem yesterday. But I fought for my king. I was waiting for the gold.”

Saudi Arabia’s Yousef Ahmed Masrahi won the men’s 400m while Nigerian-born Oluwakemi Adekoya won the women’s race for Bahrain.

Chinese Olympic bronze medalist Zhang Wenxiu won her third consecutive gold in the Asiad women’s hammer throw and compatriot Xue Changrui won the men’s pole vault.

China bagged both 20km race walking golds, with Wang Zhen taking the men’s and Lu Xiuzhi the women’s as they romped past 100 golds to 105, raising the prospect of breaking their record of 199 wins achieved four years ago on home soil in Guangzhou.

INCHEON: Qatar’s Femi Seun Ogunode (C) crosses the finish line ahead of Japan’s Kei Takase (R) and Ryota Yamagata in the 100m final at the Incheon Asiad Main Stadium on Sunday.—Reuters

South Korea, who have finished runners-up at the last four Games, look likely to do so again after finishing the day with 42 golds, eight more than Japan.

The Northeast Asian rivals went head-to-head in the quarter-finals of the men’s soccer tournament on Sunday, with the hosts coming out on top 1-0 after scoring a late penalty kick.

Japanese captain Ryota Oshima inexplicably bundled Lee Jong-ho over in the box, leaving the South Korean substitute with blood streaming for his nose, and Jang Hyun-soo slammed home the spot kick to the delight of more than 43,000 fans at Munhak Stadium.

South Korea will meet Thailand, who beat Jordan 2-0, in the semi-finals on Tuesday. Iraq downed Saudi Arabia 3-0 and will play North Korea, which defeated the United Arab Emirates 1-0.

South Korean fans also got the baseball gold medal they had been demanding after the hosts capitalised on a late meltdown by Taiwan to score four runs in the eighth inning.

Taiwan’s Lo Chia Jen hit Kang Jung-ho with a pitch in the eighth with the bases loaded to tie the score at 3-3, before Na Sung-bum’s grounder brought across the go-ahead run and Hwang Jae-gyun smacked a two-run single to make it 6-3.

Badminton world number one Lee Chong Wei missed his last chance to win Asian Games gold after falling to his great adversary, Lin Dan, in the semi-finals on Sunday.

Wang Yihan defeated Chinese team-mate Li Xuerui 2-1 to win gold in badminton women’s singles. Indonesia won the badminton men’s mixed doubles, with Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan downing South Korea’s Yoo Yeon-seong and Lee Yong-dae 2-1.

One of Japan’s biggest sporting stars and most successful wrestlers in history, Yoshida beat Mongolia’s Byambatseren Sundev 4-1.

“I was nervous all the way through until the end because you never know what is going to happen in the match. But I fought with confidence and tried not to be locked in my opponent’s pace,” Yoshida said.

Yoshida has won virtually every major tournament since her 2002 debut, including three consecutive Olympic golds and an unprecedented 12 consecutive world titles.

South Korea’s Jang Kyung-gu won the men’s cycling road race, while South Korea won both gold medals given out on the final day of the archery competition.

Elsewhere, Thailand won a fifth successive Asian Games sepaktakraw gold medal with a 2-0 win over the hosts.

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2014