China's Sun wins first gold medal of 2018 Asian Games

Chinese Wushu star Sun Peiyuan captured the first gold medal of the 2018 Asian Games from the men's Changquan here on Sunday.

Sun Peiyuan competes in men's changquan at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, on Aug 19, 2018. [Photo: IC]

Sun, a 29-year-old veteran who won the gold at the 2015 World Championships in Indonesia, displayed his master skills to impress the judges and audiences with acrobatic, swift moves to snatch the Games' first gold medal with 9.75 points.

China's hope for the 1st gold of the 18th Asiad pinned upon the shoulder of Sun, and the victory didn't come easily as he was under the tremendous pressure to give China a morale-boosting start in their quest to top the Wushu medal table again.

Sun said: "I felt huge pressure before the Games. Now it's time to relax. Winning gold was not easy at all. I did not have my best performance, but I'm happy to win the first gold (of the Games) for China."

Edgar Xavier Marvelo of Indonesia took the silver with 9.72, winning the first medal for the hosts. Tsai Tse Min of Chinese Taipei claimed the bronze with 9.70 points.

Marvelo said he actually did not target any medal at the 2018 Asian Games. However, his performance was good enough to award the hosts the first medal.

"Thank you to God, family and coach. It feels really good to have won the first medal for Indonesia," said Marvelo, who believes that winning the silver could promote the sport in Indonesia.

Defending champion Lee Ha-sung of South Korea stumbled during the performance to settle for the 12th place.

Lee said: "I'm not satisfied with my performance. But I made the mistake, and I have to accept my result. I will improve more for the next Asian Games."

Wushu was first incorporated into the Asian Games in 1990. The sport comprises Taolu and Sanda. Changquan, or long fist boxing, featuring imitations of animal moves, is the basic and main style of modern Wushu, mostly being performed in north China.

More than 220 athletes will compete for 14 gold medals in Wushu at this Asiad, a full contact sport derived from the Chinese martial art. The Chinese who are the founders of the sport, are seen the favorites in the 13 events they are participating, as China has won 53 of the possible 75 gold medals at the Asian Games.

The 18th Asiad are open to compete in 465 events from 40 sports, among which 330 events from 32 sports will feature in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The 2018 Asian Games, attracting more than 10,000 athletes, will run through Sept. 2.