Japan won five swimming golds and China earned three Tuesday at the East Asian Games. Both countries collected eight golds in the first two days at the pool, but Japan fared slightly better on Tuesday. Japanese swimmers came first in the men's 400-meter individual medley, the men's 50 backstroke, the men's 200 backstroke, the women's 1,500 freestyle and the men's 4x100 freestyle relay.
China claimed titles in three women's events, the 200 freestyle, the 100 butterfly and the 100 breaststroke. No world records were broken, but Chinese swimmer Jiao Liuyang, a bronze medallist at the world championships in July, and Chen Huijia set games records.
In other sports, South Korea wrapped up the taekwondo competition with a clean sweep of the six gold medals awarded Tuesday. The South Koreans won in the men's 78-kilogram category, the women's 67-kg, the men's 84-kg, the women's 72-kg, the men's 84-kg and over and the women's 72-kg and over.
After dominating on the first two days of the event, South Korea finished with an impressive 13 of the 16 taekwondo golds offered. Elsewhere, Japan picked up gold in the women's 10-meter air rifle and men's doubles bowling. Li Ping of China clinched gold in the women's 53-kilogram weightlifting by hoisting a combined weight of 215 kilograms. North Koreans won in the men's 69-kilogram and women's 58-kilogram categories. Three South Korean pairs won all three medals in the women's doubles bowling.
MEDALS TABLE
HONG KONG: Medals table at the East Asian Games in Hong Kong on Tuesday:
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Gold Silver Bronze Total
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1. China 31 27 18 76
2. Japan 25 18 24 67
3. South Korea 20 13 24 57
4. Hong Kong 8 14 21 43
5. Macau 3 1 4 8
6. North Korea 3 1 4 8
7. Taiwan 2 17 14 33
8. Mongolia 0 1 3 4
9. Guam 0 0 1 1
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