Pan Zhanle of China waves to the crowd after finishing second in the men's 400m freestyle at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, Sept. 29, 2023. (Xinhua/Du yu)
Rising stars shone bright at the Hangzhou Asian Games, with many becoming overnight celebrities.
HANGZHOU, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Hangzhou Asian Games has seen many young athletes achieve success and become overnight celebrities. Here are seven rising stars who shone in Hangzhou.
Huang Yuting in action during the 10m air rifle mixed team final on Sept. 26, 2023. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)
Huang Yuting (Shooting, China)
China has never lacked talented young shooters, and Huang Yuting is surely the next cab off the rank.
As one of the most talked-about rising stars at the Asian Games, the 17-year-old Zhejiang native clinched three gold medals in the 10m air rifle women's individual, team and mixed team events.
In fact, Huang has already proved her level after she pocketed two golds and one silver in her international debut at the 2022 ISSF World Championships in Egypt, earning multiple 2024 Olympic berths for China.
Pan Zhanle competes during the men's 400m freestyle final on Sept. 29, 2023. (Xinhua/Huang Zongzhi)
Pan Zhanle (Swimming, China)
China's swimming team proved their dominance in Asia by winning 28 gold medals, their best-ever result at an Asian Games.
More than the gold medals, however, plenty of Chinese rising stars caught the eye, with Pan Zhanle one of the brightest.
The 19-year-old won three golds, three silvers and a bronze medal in Hangzhou, and set a new Asian record in the men's 100m freestyle in 46.97 seconds.
It was the fifth-fastest time in the event's history, and was only 0.11 seconds slower than the world record.
Silver medalist Puripol Boonson (L) of Thailand poses with gold medalist Xie Zhenye (C) of China and bronze medalist Muhammad Azeem Bin Mohd Fahmi of Malaysia (R) after the men's 100m final on Sept. 30, 2023. (Xinhua/Jiang Han)
Puripol Boonson (Athletics, Thailand)
Thailand's sprinter Puripol Boonson finished second in the men's 100 meters final in 10.02 seconds, after China's Xie Zhenye in 9.97.
Soon after making his debut, the 17-year-old broke Thailand's 23-year men's 100m national record and won three gold medals in the Southeast Asian Games last year. At the recent Asian Championships, he was part of Thailand's victorious 4x100m relay team.
Going from domestic to Asian championships in only one year, Boonson's growth has been phenomenal, and track and field enthusiasts may not have to wait long for the day he features on the global stage.
Hsu Hao-hung competes in the men's individual Go competition on Sept. 28, 2023. (Xinhua/Gong Bing)
Hsu Hao-hung (Go, Chinese Taipei)
China's Ke Jie and South Korea's Shin Jin-seo were the favorites in the Go tournament, but Chinese Taipei's Hsu Hao-hung stunned the Go world at the Hangzhou Asiad.
The 22-year-old, who was promoted to ninth dan until 2022, had no major international tournament results prior to winning gold by defeating Shin and Ke in back-to-back men's individual encounters in Hangzhou.
Young, hardworking and with a positive attitude, Hsu made a deep impression on the crowd at the Asiad.
An Chang Ok on her way to victory in the uneven bars final on Sept. 28, 2023. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)
An Chang Ok (Gymnastics, DPR Korea)
An Chang Ok of DPR Korea stole the show on the opening day of the gymnastics apparatus finals by taking gold in the vault and uneven bars.
The 20-year-old scored 14.049 points in the vault with an unparalleled difficulty score of 5.6 for her second routine, and won uneven bars competition with 14.266.
An also formed part of the DPR Korea women's team that secured a bronze medal.
An's name is not well known on the world stage, but after winning nearly one-fifth of her country's gold medals in Hangzhou, she will be in the spotlight in the future.
Miyuu Kihara (L) and Miwa Harimoto in action during the table tennis women's doubles semifinals on Oct. 2, 2023. (Xinhua/Liu Xu)
Miyuu Kihara/Miwa Harimoto (Table tennis, Japan)
Making their Asian Games debut, 19-year-old Miyuu Kihara and 15-year-old Miwa Harimoto certainly caught the attention in Hangzhou.
The teenage duo advanced to the women's doubles semifinal with a 3-1 victory over host pair Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu.
The women's doubles is not yet an Olympic event, so Kihara and Harimoto will need to get into Japan's singles main squad as soon as possible in order to feature in Paris. ■
