by sportswriter Li Jia
NAGOYA, Japan, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- China reached 169 gold medals at the 2026 Asian Games after Saturday's penultimate day of competition, surpassing its previous record for the most golds won at an overseas edition of the Games.
China won both the men's and women's golf team titles, with the men's victory delivering the delegation's 166th gold and breaking the previous overseas record of 165 set at the 2006 Games in Doha.
Li Wenqi added another gold in women's windsurfing, while Guo Pu won the B-Girls breaking title. Defending champion Liu Qingyi took bronze.
China also won the group all-around title as rhythmic gymnastics made its Asian Games debut, finishing ahead of host Japan and bronze medalist Kazakhstan.
Uzbekistan's Takhmina Ikromova successfully defended her individual all-around title, with China's Wang Qi and Wang Zilu taking silver and bronze, respectively.
"I'm happy that I was able to perform all four of my routines well today. I still had some small mistakes, but I'm happy I made it to the end and that it was enough for my second Asian Games gold," Ikromova said.
In tennis, Coleman Wong became the first player from Hong Kong, China to win an Asian Games gold medal in the sport, beating China's Wu Yibing 6-2, 6-4 in the men's singles final. The victory also secured Wong a place at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Wong broke Wu twice to take control of the opening set. The second remained level at 4-4 before Wong broke serve in the ninth game and served out the match.
"Before the Games started, I was just hoping to win a medal, regardless of the color. But honestly, now reaching this point, winning this medal, you can call it unlocking an achievement," said Wong, 22.
Wu took his second Asian Games silver medal, having also finished runner-up at Jakarta in 2018.
On the football pitch, South Korea edged Japan 1-0 in the men's final, while China ended a 28-year wait for an Asian Games men's football medal by beating Uzbekistan 4-3 on penalties in the bronze-medal match after a 2-2 draw.
It was also China's first medal in the event since the Asian Games men's football tournament adopted an under-23 format in 2002.
China goalkeeper Li Hao saved two penalties in the shootout before Peng Xiao converted the decisive spot kick.
China took silver in both rugby sevens events. The men's team achieved its best Asian Games finish despite losing 26-0 to Hong Kong, China in the final, while the women's team fell to Japan.
Japan continued its dominance of women's softball with a 7-0 victory over China to claim its seventh consecutive Asian Games title.
In beach volleyball, Qatar's Cherif Samba and Ahmed Janko came from behind to beat their Indonesian opponents 2-1 and secure a third successive Asian Games men's title.
China took silver in the women's 57kg and over-67kg taekwondo events, finishing its campaign in the sport with one gold and two silvers.
China missed out on a medal in men's volleyball after losing 3-0 to Pakistan in the bronze-medal match. Pakistan claimed its first Asian Games medal in the event in 64 years, while Iran beat Japan 3-1 in the final to secure a fourth consecutive title.
The International Testing Agency also reported two more doping cases Saturday. India's kurash athlete Yash Kumar Chauhan and Uzbekistan rugby player Umar Usmonov have been provisionally suspended after testing positive for banned substances.
The final two equestrian gold medals will be decided Sunday.
China leads the medal table with 169 golds, 89 silvers and 83 bronzes. Japan is second with 83 golds, 95 silvers and 91 bronzes, followed by South Korea with 39 golds, 43 silvers and 68 bronzes. ■
