Saudi men dominate on the track at Asian Games

Saudi Arabia dominated the second day of Asian Games track action on Tuesday as Jamal Al-Saffar and Hadi Somayli won gold in the 100 metres and 400 hurdles after Makhld Al-Otaibi's 10,000 metres win on Monday.

China, India and Kazakhstan also struck double gold, while Sri Lanka's top runner Susantika Jayasinghe won the women's 100 metres and Japan's Koji Murofishi retained his hammer title.

But it was the Saudis who stole the limelight by following up their first athletics gold at the Games on Monday with two more. Asian champion Al-Saffar won the 100 metres in 10.24 seconds ahead of Japanese favourite Nobuhara Asahara.

"The result was a surprise for me and for everyone," said Al-Saffar. "I respect Asahara but I worked and prepared very hard for this and got the result for my efforts."

Asahara, who missed the 1998 Asiad, had been impressive on the Grand Prix circuit with a best time of 10.05 seconds this season, but he was left trailing at the Asiad Main Stadium.

"I'm pretty disappointed with silver," he said. "It was my last race of the season, but I wanted to go out with a bang. I just didn't put enough work in during training."

The Asian record of Japan's Koji Ito, who ran 10 seconds flat in the semi-final four years ago before going on to take gold, never looked like being threatened after a slow start.

BIG GOAL

Saudi Arabia's Hadi Somayli won the men's 400 hurdles in a Games record of 48.42 seconds ahead of Qatar's Mubarak Sultan Faraj and Japan's Dai Tamesue, the bronze medallist at the world championships in Edmonton last year.

Somayli, who was third at the Zurich Golden League meeting with 48.11 seconds, said he was aiming for gold at the Games.

"I worked very hard for this because I really wanted the gold medal to put myself on the world stage. I wanted to run a season's best but it was just too late in the season. I was just looking to get gold. I wasn't expecting a great time as well."

Tamesue, who had returned to form after injury, had to be content with another bronze.

"I messed up. I was off my rhythm from the first hurdle but it has been a long season so I'm happy with a bronze medal considering it was such a strong field," he said.

Sri Lanka's Jayasinghe made up for missing the 13th Asiad in Bangkok through injury by taking gold in the 100 metres in 11.15 seconds. She had to work hard, though, as she came from behind to equal the Games record she had set earlier in the heats.

"I thought I could run faster than in the first round, but I got a really bad start," she said. "After the first 30 metres everyone else had gone and I really needed to do something."

GOLD QUEST

"Now I'm going to win another gold in the 200 definitely. This gold is not only for me but the first gold medal at this Asian Games for my country."

The 26-year-old won the 100 and 200 metres sprint double on home turf at the Asian championships in Colombo in August and took bronze in the 100 at the World Cup in Madrid last month.

Uzbekistan's Lyubov Perepelova took the silver with China's Qin Wangping picking up the bronze.

Japan's Koji Murofushi celebrated his 28th birthday with victory in the hammer with a Games record of 78.72 metres.

Murofushi, silver medallist at the world championships last year, won with his second throw although it was short of his season's best of 83.33 in the Paris Grand Prix final last month and his Asian Games record of 83.47.

The victory lifted the Murofushi family's gold tally to seven after his success in Bangkok in 1998 and his father Shigenobu's five straight Asian Games's hammer titles between 1970 and 1986.

"This second title gives me a good springboard for the world championships next year and then the Olympics," said Murofushi.

"The conditions were a bit difficult. It was cold this morning but I broke my Games record so I have to be happy with that."

India's Bahadur Singh Sagoo won the men's shot gold with his only successful attempt of 19.03 metres with his second throw. Asian champion BilalSaad Mubarak of Qatar took silver and Indian Shakti Singh won bronze.

Grigoriy Yegorov of Kazakhstan took the men's pole vault by virtue of fewer failed attempts as he vaulted 5.40 metres on his second try. Japan's Satoru Yasuda cleared that height on his third vault. Japan's Fumiaki Kobayashi was third.

India won the women's 800 metres as K M Beenamol took gold in two minutes 04.17 seconds ahead of compatriot Madhuri A Singh with Uzbekistan's Zamira Amirova securing the bronze.

China struck gold when Sun Yingjie won the women's 10,000 metres in a Games record of 30 minutes 28.26 seconds ahead of Japan's Kayoko Fukushi and fellow Chinese Xing Huina.

China's Shen Shengfei also won gold for China by retaining her women's heptathlon title with 5,911 points as India's Soma Biswas took silver and compatriot J J Shobha won bronze.

Defending champion Natalya Torshina of Kazakhstan won the 400 metres hurdles in 56.13 seconds ahead of China's Song Yinglan (56.43) and Japan's Makiko Yoshida (56.68).

Shen Shengfei of China retained her women's heptathlon title with 5,911 points as India's Soma Biswas (5,899) took silver and compatriot J J Shobha (5,870) won bronze. Kazakhstan's Svetlana Kazanina, the silver medallist in Bangkok, was fourth.