2019 Asia/Oceania Championships: Double gold for China in relays

2019 Asia/Oceania Championships: Double gold for China in relays

China emerged on top in the relay events at the 2019 Asia/Oceania Championships, becoming Asian champions in both the Men’s and Mixed Relay.

Korea continued their dominance from the individual finals by claiming the Women’s Relay title, but they were forced to settle for silver and bronze in the other relays as the host nation took control.

There were also medals for Japan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan as the senior championships drew to a close in Wuhan (CHN), where the Laser Run and Tetrathlon (youth categories) continue until November 21.

Women’s Relay

Korea (Kim Sunwoo & Kim Unju) won gold by a convincing margin of 45sec from Japan (Rena Shinazu & Shino Yamanaka), with China (Zhang Xiaonan & Gu Yewen) picking up the bronze.

China (Zhang/Gu) topped the standings in the Fencing Ranking Round with 29V/11D, while the fastest swimmers were the second China team (Zhang Mingyu & Wei Danni) with a time of 2:08.54.

However, it was Korea (Kim/Kim) who held their nerve best in the Riding, a score of 289 enabling them to take the overall lead. They protected their lead with a Laser Run time of 12:06 and victory was never in doubt.

Men’s Relay

China (Zhang Linbin & Luo Shuai) won the host nation’s first gold medal of the competition as they consigned Korea (Lee Jihun & Jun Woongtae) to silver, with Kyrgyzstan (Vassilii Lukianov & Radion Khripchenko) claiming bronze.

It was an incredibly tight Fencing Ranking Round and three teams emerged with 23V/13D – China (Zhang/Luo), Korea (Lee/Jun) and China II (Zhang/Liu).

Individual men’s champion Lee and world silver medallist Jun led the way for Korea in Swimming, where they timed 01:52.88.

The Riding event saw a surprise advance by Kyrgyzstan (Lukianov/Khripchenko), who scored 294 to move into overall contention.

The Laser Run was a tense battle between the two Chinese pairs, with Zhang & Luo ultimately prevailing by 3sec. Korea (Lee/Jun) finished 3rd to claim the silver medal before Kyrgyzstan (Lukianov/Khripchenko) picked up a satisfying bronze.

Mixed Relay

There was a second taste of glory for the home fans to savour on the final day of the senior Pentathlon competition, as China (Zhong Xiuting & Zhang Yu) became Asian champions in the Mixed Relay.

The hosts prevailed by 10sec from Uzbekistan (Alise Fakhrutdinova & Alexander Savkin), both of whom had secured Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualification places in the individual categories.

Korea ensured they won a medal in all five senior disciplines by claiming bronze, thanks to Kim Sunwoo and Jun Woongtae.

Uzbekistan (Fakhrutdinova/Savkin) left their rivals stunned with an exceptional Fencing performance, scoring 31V/11D.

China (Zhong/Zhang) led the way in Swimming with 1:58.38, while China II (Bian Yufei & Han Jiahao) performed best in Riding.

Uzbekistan (Fakhrutdinova/Savkin) started the Laser Run with a 26sec lead from China (Zhong/Zhang), but the leaders failed to stay focused on the shooting range, allowing the home team to catch up and overtake them.