Chinese men's basketballers won the nation's last gold medal at
the Doha Asian Games yesterday, increasing the
number of golds won by the Chinese to 165, the second-best record
behind 183 at the 1990 Beijing Games.
The Chinese team outclassed the hosts 59-44 to win back the
title it lost four years ago in Busan, South Korea, giving a
perfect end to the all-conquering Chinese contingent that topped
the medals table since the 1982 New Delhi Games.
However, the Qataris have something to cheer after their men's
soccer team took the last gold medal of the Games with a 1-0 over
Iraq in the final later yesterday. Qatar becomes the fourth host
country to win the title and the first since South Korea in 1986 at
Seoul.
China fielded a 928-member delegation in Doha, including 647
athletes at an average age of 23.3, competing in 362 events from 37
sports. In order to build a strong team for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, many of Chinese
athletes are pretty young but most of them proved their
strength.
China finished the Games overwhelmingly in first place in the
medal standings with 165 golds and 316 medals overall. Second-place
South Korea has 58 golds and 193 overall, followed by Japan in
third (50 and 198).
South Korean swimmer Park Tae-hwan won three gold medals and was
voted most valuable player of the Games. Park won the 200-meter,
400-meter and 1,500-meter races, with his 14:55.03 time in the
longest distance race placing him among the medal threats at the
world championships in March in Melbourne, Australia.
Liu Xiang of China, the 110-meter hurdles world record holder,
Athens Olympic champion and winner in Doha, was also a contender
for the award.
The closing ceremonies also included a flag handover ceremony
involving the next host of the Asian Games, Guangzhou, China, in
2010.
China's focus before then will firmly be on the Beijing 2008
Olympics, where it aims to supplant the US atop the medal
standings.
Liu Peng, president of the Chinese Olympic Committee and
chef-de-mission of the delegation to Doha, said despite
China's overwhelming domination in the Asian Games, it was not a
true indication of where the country stands in terms of Olympic
preparations.
"Although we've achieved excellent results in the Asian Games,
it does not mean that we will have the same performance in the
Olympics," Liu told a news conference. "We must redouble our
efforts to meet the coming challenges."
Pressure could be a major problem in 2008 as some Chinese star
athletes fell to their weaker mental strength in Doha.
"Pressure might be one of the reasons for their unexpected loss.
There is a silver lining in the failure as we can find the problem
in time for the Olympics," he said.
(China Daily December 16, 2006)