Iroda Tulyaganova takes
women's tennis crown
Ken Ferris
Women's events dominated the Asian Games on Friday as China beat South Korea in the hockey final, Uzbekistan's Iroda Tulyaganova took the tennis singles crown and North Korea clinched the soccer gold.
The men's boxing tournament also moved towards a conclusion as four Kazakhs reached finals along with three Pakistanis, two Thais, two Uzbeks and one South Korean.
China's lead in the medals table narrowed slightly as South Korea won six golds to China's two. Japan also picked up two golds but fourth-placed Kazakhstan remained on 16. China have 129, Korea 73 and Japan 41.
China beat South Korea for the second time at the Games to take the women's field hockey gold with a 2-1 victory. When the teams met in the preliminary round China won 2-0.
Uzbek Tulyaganova demolished top seed Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand 6-1, 6-3 to win the tennis gold.
The world number 45, who has won three WTA singles titles, kept the pressure on the 31st-ranked Tanasugarn in a one-sided final at Gumjong Stadium.
"It has been a difficult season because I have had some trouble with a knee injury. But I came here to do a job and I got the gold that I wanted," said the 20-year-old Tulyaganova.
PARADORN TRIUMPHS
Uzbek team mate Oleg Ogorodov had less to celebrate, however, as he went down 6-3, 6-3 to world number 28 Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand in the semi-finals of the men's singles.
Srichaphan, who beat world number one Lleyton Hewitt in the Japan Open quarter-finals last week, faces Lee Hyung-taik in Saturday's final after the South Korean outlasted Japan's Takao Suzuki 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.
Favourites India won the men's doubles gold as estranged doubles partners Leander Peas and Mahesh Bhupathi came together to beat South Korea's Chung Hee Sok and Lee Hyung Taik 6-2, 6-3.
North Korea secured their first Games gold in women's football since 1990 and preserved their unbeaten record with a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Vietnam on Friday.
Jin Pyol-hui scored two first-half goals, one from the spot, while Ri Kum-suk and Yun Yong-hui were also on target.
North Korea finished top of the six-team league table with 13 points after four wins and one draw.
"We are delighted with the gold medal... We are grateful for all the support we have had from the South Koreans," said North Korean coach Ri Song-gun.
SUPER BOXING
In the superheavyweight boxing division Uzbek Rustam Saidov beat Pakistan's Mirza Muzafar Iqbal, the fight stopped in the first round. He faces Kazakhstan's Mukhtarkhan Dildabekov, the Sydney Olympics and defending Games champion, in the final.
Two of Thailand's gold medal prospects got through, light-middleweight Suriya Prasathinphimai beating Uzbek Sirojiddin Naimov after the bout was stopped in the third. He meets Kazakh Gennadiy Golovkin in the final.
Thai flyweight Somjit Jongjohor, who won light flyweight gold at the 1999 Southeast Asian Games, beat China's Zou Gang on points to secure a final showdown with Karim Nouman.
The Pakistani beat South Korea's Kim Tae Kue, the gold medallist in the 1999 East Asian Championships, on points.
South Korea had better luck in modern pentathlon as they swept the medals in the men's individual event, with Kim Mi-sub taking gold ahead of Yang Jun-ho and Han Do-ryoung. They also won the men's team gold ahead of China and Japan.
World championship silver medallist Wang Tianling took diving gold for China in the men's three-metre springboard with a total of 741.36 points with team mate Wang Feng taking silver.
South Korea cleaned up in taekwondo as Kim Dae-ryung won the men's 58kg, Lim Su-jung took the women's 51kg, Oh Seon-tak clinched the men's 78kg division and Kim Su-ok won the women's 67kg title.
In karate, Japan won golds in the individual kata through Atsuko Wakai in the men's and Yukimitsu Hasegawa in the women's.
Vietnam won two golds in the women's kumite finals thanks to Kim Anh Vu in the 53kg class and Trong Bao Ngoc in the 60kg-plus. Malaysia's Supramaniam Premila won the women's 60kg kumite.
(Additional reporting by Alastair Himmer)
