SANYA, April 26 (Xinhua) -- China took four gold medals in beach athletics, open water swimming and dragon boat racing at the ongoing Asian Beach Games here on Sunday.
Marathon swimming specialist Zhang Ziyang won the men's 5km title in 53 minutes and 46.0 seconds, with Nguyen Huy Hoang and Mai Tran Tuan Anh of Vietnam finishing second and third.
"The 5km is shorter than the 10km, so the pace is much faster and the racing is more intense, I chose to go to the front from the first lap and tried to hold it to the end, which really tested my fitness and race management. It was a valuable experience for my future 10km races," said Zhang.
In beach athletics, China pocketed gold in the men's 4x60m relay final in the closing part of the event. Chinese sprinters Huang Youchao, Li Mengyuan, Wang Xinkai and Ailikuti Yishake crossed the line first in 26.06 seconds. Thailand took silver in 26.68, with Sri Lanka third in 27.57.
"We united as one and cooperated perfectly on the track, that's the key to our victory," Wang told Xinhua.
In the women's high jump, Barnokhon Sayfullaeva of Uzbekistan won the title with a leap of 1.85 meters. The 21-year-old cleared 1.70, 1.75, 1.78 and 1.81 at her first attempt, then, after a first failure at 1.83, composed herself to go over 1.83 and 1.85 in succession. China's Shao Yuqi, champion at the 15th National Games, and Hu Linpeng shared second place at 1.83.
In the men's shot put, Iran's Hassan Ajamibakhtiarvand took gold with a final-round throw of 20.17m, a personal best. China's Chen Chengyu claimed silver with 19.95m and teammate Zhang Haochen took bronze with 19.69m.
In the women's 4x60m relay, Thailand stormed to victory in 29.46 seconds. The Philippines finished second in 29.73, while China ranked third in 30.42s.
In the dragon boat competition, China won the women's 400m grand final in one minute and 48.899 seconds, with Thailand, Vietnam and Macao, China finishing second to fourth. In the men's event, China also took gold in one minute and 34.990 seconds, while Thailand and Hong Kong, China claimed silver and bronze, respectively.
On day 5, open water swimming, teqball and beach kabaddi of the Asian Beach Games will be concluded with six gold medals on offer. ■
