Roundup: All Chinese Rowers Advance into Finals at Asiad

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, October 01, 2002

Roundup: All Chinese Rowers Advance into Finals at Asiad

All Chinese rowers advanced into the finals of the 14th Asian Games after two days' heats and repechages Tuesday in Busan.

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All Chinese rowers advanced into the finals of the 14th Asian Games after two days' heats and repechages Tuesday in Busan.

Only one Chinese rower qualified through Tuesday's repechages while his compatriots have all sailed into the finals on their first place finishes in the heats on the first day.

Zhu Zhifu, China's hope for the toughest gold of men's lightweight, eventually found his rhythm and eased into the finals.

"I had a better feeling in today's competition. I think if I had done the same way, I would have beaten him," said the 23-year-old, who finished 7:10.13 in the repechage.

The Chinese finished 7:16.27 in yesterday's heat, three second behind his Japanese rival Hitoshi Hase, who finished 6th in the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

"But I felt much more pressure in today's competition. Now I tell myself that I come here just for the gold. I think I still have the confidence to beat him in the final," added Zhu.

Chinese coach Huang Shengxiong, however, said it's difficult for China to win the golds from the Asiad men's lightweight competitions since Japanese rowers were virtually stronger than them.

"Two days' competitions tell us that we are strong but not in all categories. Japan are stronger than us in the men's lightweight competitions," said Huang.

Unchallenged China, who dominated Asian rowing for many a yearsand swept all 11 gold medals from the last Asiad in Bangkok, were looking forward to a clean-sweep once again before the Asiad.

"We are happy that Zhu had solved his problem. It's lucky for him to lose the game to the Japanese yesterday. If the same thing happened tomorrow, what he lost will not just be a simple match but a gold!" said Huang.

"We hope that we can get at least one gold from three men's lightweight events," added Huang.

Two day's competition saw several individuals who are competitive for the medals, but no countries or regions looked to topple China's dominance in Asian rowing except Japan.

Japanese rowing coach Ohbayashi Kunihiklo, however, kept a low key for his team.

"China are much stronger than us. We just hope to win gold, especially in men's lightweight."

Wednesday will feature six finals of men's lightweight single sculls, women's lightweight single sculls, men's four-oars without coxswain, women's four-oars without coxswain, men's single sculls and women's single sculls.

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