Asian Games: China's Track Stars Shine as Hangzhou Heats Up
The Asian Games in Hangzhou delivered a day of high drama on Friday, with Chinese athletes advancing across track, badminton and table tennis. Rain fell on the athletics track, but it did little to dampen the performances of China’s hurdlers, who booked multiple places in the finals.
In the men’s 110m hurdles, Chen Yuanjiang ran 13.52 seconds to win his heat, while teammate Liu Junxi qualified with 13.69. The final, set for Saturday, will include Japan’s Rashid Muratake, who posted the fastest qualifying time of 13.27. The event is one of the marquee races of the Games, and the field is stacked with regional talent, including runners from the Philippines, Chinese Taipei, Qatar and Singapore. Notably, Japan’s former national record holder Shunsuke Izumiya crashed out in the first round, a reminder of how unforgiving hurdling can be.
The women’s 100m hurdles also drew attention, with defending champion Lin Yuwei and teammate Wu Yanni both advancing. Wu clocked 13.18 seconds to finish second in her heat, while Lin ran 13.52 to take third in hers. Japan’s Mako Fukube and Hitomi Nakashima set the pace with matching 12.85s. Before the race, Wu was seen calmly touching up her makeup in the call room, a moment that quickly circulated on Chinese social media and added a touch of personality to the high-stakes competition.
On the badminton court, Wang Zhiyi advanced to the women’s singles quarterfinals after her South Korean opponent, Kim Ga-eun, retired with the match at 21-14, 11-6 in Wang’s favor. Wang will next face the winner of a match between two other contenders. In women’s doubles, Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning battled for 96 minutes to overturn a first-game deficit against South Korea’s Kim Hye-jeong and Lee Yeon-woo, winning 19-21, 21-9, 21-18. Their reward is a quarterfinal against Hsieh Pei-shan and Hung En-tzu.
Table tennis brought more success. In the men’s doubles quarterfinals, Wen Ruibo and Xiang Peng swept past Iran’s Alamian brothers 3-0. Afterward, Wen praised his partner’s energy and said they would give everything in the semifinal. In the women’s doubles, Wang Manyu and Kuai Man defeated Japan’s Miyu Nagasaki and Mima Ito 3-0, conceding only 14 points across three games. However, Chen Yi and Fan Shuhan fell to Japan’s Miwa Harimoto and Hina Hayata, ending their run.
Away from the Asian Games, football news continued to make waves. Manchester United’s Kobbie Mainoo was voted the club’s player of the month for September with a remarkable 82 percent of the vote, reflecting his growing influence in midfield. In Italy, Empoli manager Paolo Paluca resigned after a shaky start in Serie B, leaving the club searching for a replacement.
China’s under-23 football team also made headlines by reaching the Asian Games semifinals for the first time since 1998, defeating Thailand 3-0. The team will now face South Korea, a tough test but one that has captured the imagination of fans back home. The result was celebrated by international referee Ma Ning, who posted a video of congratulations.
As the Games continue, the host city of Hangzhou is buzzing with energy. The event has become a platform for emerging Chinese athletes to shine on home soil, and with several finals still to come, the roar of the crowd is only going to get louder.