Thai trailblazer claims Asian Games sprint double in rainy Nagoya

Nagoya, Thailand's Puripol Boonson made history on Sunday by clinching the Asian Games 200m gold, setting a new 20-second barrier, and completing Thailand's sprint double. Two days earlier, the 20-year-old had claimed the 100m title in 9.90 seconds. This accomplishment marked Puripol as the first Thai sprinter to break the 20-second mark, matching the seven-year-old Asian record held by China's Xie Zhenye. He outpaced China's runner-up Huang Youwen by more than half a second.

Meanwhile, China's 18-year-old javelin sensation Yan Ziyi claimed her first Asian Games gold, defeating Olympic champion and home hero Haruka Kitaguchi. With a single throw of 70.46 meters, Yan broke the Asian record and swept the gold medal for China.

Bahrain's Winfred Yavi won the women's 3000m steeplechase title, adding to her 10,000m gold medal. Singapore's Shanti Pereira, returning from a previous victory in the 200m, secured her second consecutive gold, besting 17-year-old Chen Yujie by just 0.15 seconds.

The Aichi-Nagoya Games have faced scrutiny over low fan attendance due to COVID-19 restrictions. Rainy conditions on the eighth day of the event dampened spirits, with empty seats at venues. Athletes were housed in a mix of accommodations, including hotels, wooden huts, and even a cruise ship, with some finding them "rather cramped."

Elsewhere, South Korea defeated Japan in men's baseball for the gold, while Malaysia's Ng Eain Yow and Sivasangari Subramaniam won back-to-back golds in men's and women's singles squash. The Malaysian duo became the first athletes to earn quota berths for squash in the Olympic debut in Los Angeles 2028.

Subramaniam, a world number one who recently recovered from a near-fatal crash, expressed her goal of winning Olympic gold at LA 2028. Sunday's opening events featured penalty-laden race walk events, with India's Priyanka Goswami disqualified for excessive red cards in the women's marathon. Kazakh Yasmina Toxanbayeva won the marathon gold, leaving a three-minute gap to China's Zhou Yingcheng, who secured his second Games title.