NAGOYA, Japan, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- China's Zhang Zhicheng won the men's canoe single title, while Japan's Kurumi Ito claimed gold in the women's kayak single at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Thursday.
Zhang, who topped both the heats and semifinal, completed a penalty-free final run in 98.09 seconds to secure the title.
Chinese Taipei's Wu Jung-cheng took silver in 119.09 with six penalty seconds, while Thailand's Piyanath Koetsuk won bronze in 121.68.
Uzbekistan's Anvar Klevleev, who finished second in both the heats and semifinal, clocked a raw time of 98.37 seconds, just 0.28 behind Zhang. However, a 50-second penalty for missing a gate dropped him to fourth with a total time of 148.37.
"Gates 16 and 17 were a little difficult today, but we trained on those specific skills regularly, so I felt comfortable. Maybe I was a little lucky today too," Zhang said.
In the women's kayak single final, Ito followed up her first-place finish in the semifinal with victory on home waters. She clocked 107.60, including a two-second penalty, to finish 4.10 seconds ahead of China's Chen Lin.
Chen improved from fourth in the semifinal to take silver in 111.70 despite four penalty seconds. Kazakhstan's Yekaterina Tarantseva completed a clean run in 112.23 to claim bronze, ahead of Chinese Taipei's Chang Chu-han, who finished in 113.48.
Chen said reviewing video with her coach after the semifinal helped her make adjustments for the final.
"The first part of the final went quite well, and I paddled the way I wanted to, but I rushed a little towards the end," she said.
The canoe slalom competition concludes on Friday with the men's and women's kayak cross events, which are to make their Asian Games debut. In the head-to-head rounds, paddlers race simultaneously through upstream and downstream gates and must complete a compulsory kayak roll. ■
