by sportswriter Li Jia
NAGOYA, Japan, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- China swept the men's and women's 4x100m relay titles on Day 9 of the 2026 Asian Games on Monday, while wrapping up the table tennis competition with six of the seven gold medals.
China defended its women's 4x100m relay title in 42.96 seconds, with Liang Xiaojing, Liu Guoyi, Liu Xiajun and Chen Yujie combining for gold. Thailand took silver in a season-best 43.51, while Japan earned bronze in 43.52, also a season best.
Chen, 17, added the relay gold to her 100m title. She also won silver in the 200m.
China retained the men's 4x100m relay title in 38.17, with Chen Jinfeng, Zeng Keli, Wang Shengjie and Xie Zhenye making up the winning quartet. Chinese Taipei took silver and South Korea bronze.
China's Feng Bin defended her women's discus title with a final-round throw of 63.83 meters. Compatriot Jiang Zhichao took silver with a season-best 62.25m, while Thailand's Subenrat Insaeng also set a season best with 61.43m for bronze.
China also won the men's long jump, with world bronze medalist Shi Yuhao taking gold with a season-best 8.17m.
Japan's Kazuto Iizawa won the men's 1,500m in a Games-record 3:36.35, with China's Liu Dezhu finishing fourth. Japan also took the top two places in the men's 3,000m steeplechase, led by Ryuji Miura's Games-record 8:17.36.
China ended its table tennis campaign by taking both gold medals on offer Monday.
Kuai Man and Wang Manyu swept Japan's Miwa Harimoto and Hina Hayata 4-0 in the women's doubles final, securing the only table tennis title that had eluded China at Hangzhou 2022. Lin Shidong later defeated defending champion Wang Chuqin to claim the men's singles title.
"We got off the blocks quickly. Tactically we stuck to the plan and stayed determined. Ups and downs in a match are normal," said Kuai, who claimed three titles on her Asian Games debut.
Lin, also making his Asiad debut, completed a treble of his own after earlier winning the mixed doubles and men's doubles titles.
"There were a lot of unknowns in my first Asian Games. I didn't quite know what to expect, and I did ask some seniors what I could expect," Lin said. "When I was finally here, the feeling was different."
China finished the table tennis competition with six of the seven gold medals, missing out only on the men's team title.
Chinese divers added two golds as Lin Shan topped the women's 1m springboard and Wang Zongyuan won the men's 1m springboard. China also swept all three artistic swimming team routines to claim the team title and extend its winning streak in the event to six consecutive Asian Games.
In weightlifting, DPR Korea's Ro Kwang Ryol broke two world records to win the men's 85kg title by a single kilogram.
Ro lifted 214kg in the clean and jerk for a world-record total of 379kg, edging Kazakhstan's Alexey Churkin, who set a world record of 173kg in the snatch before finishing with a 378kg total.
Iran's Ali Alipour later set a world record total of 398kg to win the men's 95kg title.
In badminton, defending champion An Se-young of South Korea cruised past China's Chen Yufei 21-5, 21-12 to reach the women's singles final. Japan's Akane Yamaguchi beat China's Wang Zhiyi 21-11, 22-20 in the other semifinal.
China will also be represented in three doubles finals after Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang advanced in men's doubles, Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning in women's doubles, and Jiang Zhenbang and Wei Yaxin in mixed doubles.
In shooting, China's Xiao Jiaruixuan edged world record holder Esha Singh of India after two shoot-off series to win the women's 25m pistol individual title. China also took the team gold, with Shang Kaiyan, Xiao and Yao Qianxun combining for 1,743 points.
China beat Malaysia 4-0 to defend the Honor of Kings esports title.
In men's handball, Bahrain defeated host Japan 35-31 to set up a final against Qatar, which beat South Korea 32-30.
Japan swept the BMX racing titles, with Sae Hatakeyama winning the women's final and Asuma Nakai defending his men's crown. China's Lin Haochao took bronze in the men's event.
After nine days of competition, China leads the medal table with 132 gold, 53 silver and 45 bronze medals. Japan is second with 41 gold, 68 silver and 63 bronze, followed by South Korea with 21 gold, 26 silver and 43 bronze. ■
