(MENAFN- Arab Times) INCHEON South Korea Sept 25 (Agencies): Kuwait's shooting added two new medals one silver and one bronze to Kuwait's medals tally at the 17th Asian Games in South Korea's Incheon. Shooter Fehaid Al-Deehani won the silver medal in men's individual competition and the national team won the bronze medal in teams' double trap contest. 'We were too close to snatching gold medals in trap and double trap of individuals and teams contests but luck was not in our side' Al-Deehani told reporters after receiving the silver medal.
The new medals take Kuwait tally up to five medals; one gold in squash three silver and one bronze in shooting competitions. The Asian Games which this year combines total 45 nations from across the continent is considered the second largest multi-sport event after the Olympics. The Games will end on Oct 4th. Meanwhile the national squash qualified for the semi-final after beating title holders Pakistani 2-1. 'The players have been outstanding during the group matches' national team coach Nasser Zahran told KUNA. Zahran added that there is a remarkable progress in the performance of Kuwaiti players which helped them defeat the Asian Games champions Pakistani. The win puts the Kuwaiti team at the top of their group with four successive wins. Kuwait will face the top team in the other group in the semi-final stage. On Tuesday Abdullah Al-Mezayen won his country's first gold medal at the 17th Asian Games after beating his Indian rival Ghosal Saurav. South Korean Park Tae-Hwan's Asian Games heartbreak deepened Thursday as China's Ning Zetao mercilessly crushed his hopes in the 100 metres freestyle. Marathon man Kosuke Hagino collected his seventh medal of the Games for Japan but China consolidated their lead over their fierce rivals in the gold medal count ending the day 18-11 ahead after splitting the evening's six finals. Already beaten into bronze place in the 200m and 400m free former Olympic champion Park was blown away by Ning who dominated the 100m from start to finish powering home in a new Asian record of 47.70 seconds. Park had to settle for silver over a second behind at the Incheon aquatics arena named after him. 'I'm very excited with my gold medals' said Ning who has overcome a bone infection in his knee that caused severe pain when he kicks. 'They are very important to me and to the team. I broke the Asian record and I broke 48 seconds which is very pleasing.' As consolation Park's silver gave him a 19th Asian Games medal to tie former shooter Park Byung-Taek for most medals won by a South Korean athlete at the quadrennial multisport event. 'It shows how long I've been around that I've managed to win so many medals' said Park who turns 25 on Saturday. 'But I'd be lying if I said I didn't have regrets. I will do everything I can to win more tomorrow.' Park has confessed to struggling with the suffocating home pressure and looked tight on the blocks. A terrible start left the local hero with no chance of catching the red-hot Ning who swam a blistering 47.08 anchor leg in Wednesday's 4x100m relay victory. The Korean will have a final chance to salvage his pride in Friday's 1500m although Olympic champion Sun Yang who won the 400m will be firm favourite. Japan's Ryosuke Irie completed the 100 and 200 backstroke double as he did in Guangzhou four years ago by streaking to victory in the four-lap race in a new Games record 1:53.26 over a second and a half quicker than China's Xu Jiayi. 'It's a thrill to win a gold medal at three Asian Games' said Irie who also won the 200m title in Doha eight years ago. 'Hopefully we can keep it going in tomorrow's medley relay.' Hagino collected his seventh medal of the Games by finishing third. Japanese swim officials told AFP that the 20-year-old sensation was not scheduled to race on Friday's final day. With four golds Hagino fell short of matching Yoshimi Nishigawa's haul of five swimming titles at the 1970 and 1974 Asian Games. China's Shi Yang took gold in the men's 50m butterfly in 23.46 ahead of Singapore's Joseph Schooling who took silver to complete a full set of medals. There was a surprise gold for Japan's Satomi Suzuki in the women's 50m breaststroke while the Japanese also won the women's 4x100m medley relay. China's quartet was disqualified in the morning heats. China have dominated the Asian Games swimming in recent years winning 24 of the 38 golds at Guangzhou. Cambodian soft tennis player Yi Sophany 18 became the second athlete caught in the doping net when she tested positive for the banned stimulant sibutramine. She follows 20-year-old Tajik footballer Khurshed Beknazarov who was kicked out for doping on Tuesday and has been provisionally banned by Asian football authorities. And authorities launched an investigation after betting analysis company Sportradar said it 'strongly' suspects match-fixing in the men's football competition. 'We can say that we strongly believe there have been manipulated matches at the Asian Games' Andreas Krannich managing director of strategy and integrity told The New Paper in Singapore. Krannich did not reveal the teams involved but said attention was focusing on at least one group game where late goals were scored. 'The odds movements and the deviations caused alerts belying clear betting evidence that could never be justified in a regular contest' he said. The OCA said it would work with the Asian Football Confederation and world body FIFA to investigate the claim. 'OCA takes this matter seriously and works with the Asian federation and international federation (FIFA) for a proper and full investigation' an official told AFP. South Korea's former Olympic champion Park timed quickest in the 100m freestyle heats with 49.76 seconds as he bids for his first gold medal after demoralising defeats in the 200m and 400m. 'I'm just trying to stay calm' Park told reporters. 'I'm trying not to think about the expectations.' South Korea celebrated their first world record of the Games when their women's compound archery team scored 238 points out of a possible 240 in the quarter-finals. And China broke the world record to take gold in the men's 50m rifle prone team event.
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