China shines at Asian Beach Games as Zhao sets world record, sailors win five golds

SANYA, 29 April (BelTA - Xinhua) - China enjoyed a standout day at the 6th Asian Beach Games on Tuesday, highlighted by 16-year-old Zhao Yicheng's world record in men's speed climbing, a podium sweep in the women's event, and five gold medals in sailing.

Zhao showed strong form in the preliminaries, equaling the Asian record with 4.73 seconds before breaking the world record with 4.58 seconds on his second run, surpassing the previous mark of 4.64 set by American Samuel Watson.

Indonesia's Antasafi Robby Al Hilmi false-started in the final, handing Zhao the gold without needing to climb, while Kazakhstan's Rishat Khaibullin took bronze.

"I made extensive preparations for this competition and stayed very focused tonight," Zhao said. "I'm deeply grateful to my team and my coach."

China swept the women's podium, with Zhou Yafei taking gold, Deng Lijuan silver and Zhang Shaoqin bronze. Zhou, who clocked 6.34 seconds in the preliminaries, defeated Deng in the final with a time of 6.35 seconds.

2024 Olympic silver medalist Wu Peng of China was eliminated in the round of 16 after making a mistake.

China also dominated sailing as the competition concluded, finishing with five gold, two silver and two bronze medals. Cheng Wenyu won the girls' Optimist title, Yan Guoguo took gold in the girls' ILCA4, Ma Zilin triumphed in the women's Formula Kite, Wang Yiguo won the boys' foil windsurfing, and Chen Yimin secured gold in the girls' foil windsurfing.

Elsewhere, Thailand's Rachata Sadtrakulwattana won the boys' Optimist, Singapore's Ian Goh claimed the boys' ILCA4, and Thailand's Joseph Jonathan Weston took gold in the men's Formula Kite.

In water polo, China beat defending champion Kazakhstan 3-0, while Iran defeated Thailand by the same scoreline. China leads the standings with 12 points, followed by Iran with 11, with both sides unbeaten ahead of Wednesday's gold medal match.

Thailand will face Japan in the women's beach volleyball final, while Iran and Qatar advanced to the men's final after defeating Oman and Thailand respectively.

In beach handball, Iran beat Thailand 2-1 in the semifinals, while Qatar defeated Bahrain 2-0 to reach the final.

"It is incredibly hard to predict anything in a beach handball match. No team is a guaranteed winner before the match ends," said Ali Heidarian of Iran. "This was our toughest test in this tournament, but we managed to get through it successfully."

China currently tops the medal table with 21 gold, 14 silver and eight bronze medals, followed by Thailand and the Philippines.