Some of the Olympic and world champions and other
title favorites made early exits from the 10th National Games in Jiangsu
Province.
The games were however marred by a scandal in the judo event
involving grand slam champion Sun Fuming.
Some of the big names falling
by the side yesterday included air rifle shooters Zhu Qinan and Li Jie, top two
finishers at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, Sun Fuming, judo grand slam
champion, shuttlers Xia Xuanze and Wang Chen, Olympic gymnastics champion Yang
Wei and Athens gold medalist Tang Gonghong.
The most eye-catching
incident occurred on the judo mat where veteran Sun Fuming, 31, who shot to fame
at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, upset fans yesterday as she surprisingly lost
on ippon in less than half a minute in the women's 78kg, gifting her former
provincial teammate Yan Sirui an easy title.
"It's obviously a fixed
match," Chinese judo boss Song Zhaonian claimed.
"The result is not
reflective of their real strength, and as I have seen, Sun gave up the gold on
her own," said Song, who is the deputy director of Weightlifting, Wrestling and
Judo Sports Administration Center of China.
Song said that the two teams
made use of the rules, but it is not a win-win choice.
Liu Yongfu, the
national coach, was as surprised himself. "What can I say?" Liu said, who is
also the head coach of Liaoning provincial judo team. "Sun and Yan are
teammates, and whoever wins will not surprise me. Besides, Sun has been battling
injuries for some time now."
In the pool, new faces emerged even as
veterans shined.
Old hand Qi Hui from the PLA scooped her first gold in
the women's 400m individual medley, while rising rookie Zhang Lin boosted her
credentials with a title in the men's 400m freestyle for Beijing.
Reigning champion Shanghai defended its title in women's 4x100 freestyle
relay with a time of 3 minutes 40.93 seconds.
Yesterday's competitions
produced 28 gold medals which went to 14 delegations.
Host Jiangsu tops
the gold medal tally with 31, followed by Guangdong with 25 and Liaoning 22.
