HONG KONG (AP) — China and Japan each won another four gold medals each in the swimming pool Monday at the East Asian Games.
China's women won the 200-meter individual medley, the 50 backstroke, the 50 butterfly and the 4x200 freestyle relay, while Japan's men won the 200 freestyle, the 50 butterfly, the 200 backstroke and the 800 freestyle.
World championship silver medalist Ryosuke Irie won the 200 backstroke in a games-record 1 minute, 53.73 seconds.
Earlier Monday, South Korea came within one win of sweeping the taekwondo competition, clinching five out of six gold medals.
The South Koreans won in the women's 55-kilogram category, the men's 62-kg, the men's 67-kg, the women's 63-kg and the men's 72-kg. Tseng Pei-hua of Taiwan won gold in the 59-kilogram class when she beat Lee Sung-hye. South Korea has now accounted for seven of the 10 judo gold medals.
South Korea also picked up a bowling gold, with Hwang Sun-ok and Shin Bo-hyun posting a one-two finish in the women's singles. Toshihiko Takahashi of Japan won the men's singles.
In table tennis, China redeemed losses in the women's doubles, the mixed doubles and women's team competition by locking up gold in the men's singles, with Xu Xin and Zhang Jike both winning their semifinals. They also teamed up to win the men's doubles, defeating a Taiwanese pair 4-1.
Ai Fukuhara and Kasumi Ishikawa of Japan won the women's doubles.
In other golds for China, Zhu Qinan won the men's 10-meter air rifle, Yang Lian won in women's weightlifting in the 48-kilogram division, and Long Qingquan triumphed in the men's 56-kilogram division.
Kim Un Guk of North Korea won the men's 62-kilogram competition.
After Day 3, China leads the medals table with 26 golds. Japan is next with 18 golds, followed by South Korea with 13 and Hong Kong with eight.
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