China claims all eight shooting golds at East Asian Games
AFP
October 11, 2013, 5:55 am
Beijing (AFP) - China completed a clean sweep of the shooting at the East Asian Games on Thursday, claiming its eighth gold in the sport as the host nation continued to dominate.
Su Yuling won the women's 10 metre air pistol event in the northern port city of Tianjin, and was joined on the podium by second-placed Tu Yiyi-tzu of Taiwan and Japan's Yukari Konishi, who won bronze.
It was the 24-year-old's second gold of the day after she won in the team event with Ren Jie and Zhou Qingyuan.
China has also taken three silvers and three bronzes in the shooting, for a total of 14 out of the 24 medals available.
In the overall medals table the hosts had an impressive 75 golds, nearly four times the 20 won by second-placed South Korea. Japan was third with 15.
Shooting had been one of China's key Olympic sports up to and including the 2008 Games in Beijing, when it claimed five gold medals.
But at London 2012, China claimed only two titles as sports chiefs attempted to extend the country's reach beyond disciplines it has traditionally dominated.
This year's East Asia Games features more than 2,400 athletes from China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Mongolia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and Guam, competing in 24 different sports.
It is the last time the East Asian Games will be held in their current form, the state news agency Xinhua reported, with the event due to be transformed into a youth games for athletes aged 14 to 18.
