Japanese Teenager Rikako Ikee Sets Record With 6 Golds in Swimming
Jakarta, Aug 25 : Japan and China finished all square in the swimming gold medal tally at the Asian Games in a key dress rehearsal for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
China needed to win Friday's last race to tie Japan on 19 golds in the pool and they did it, pinching the men's 4x100-metre medley relay by four-hundredths of a second in 3 minutes and 29.99 seconds.
China's world champion backstroker Xu Jiayu picked up his fifth gold medal, only the second male swimmer to win five at a single Asian Games, when he swam the lead-off leg in the relay. But he was still outshone for the top individual honors of the meet.
That went to the Japanese teenager Rikako Ikee, whose performances with six gold medals and eight overall this week suggest she may be one of the host-nation's biggest drawcards at the Tokyo Olympics.
No other woman in any sport has ever accrued more than five medals at a single Asian Games. The only competitor to have won more than her is North Korean shooter So Gin Man.
So won seven golds at the 1982 Asian Games and eight medals overall. Ikee fell one short of So's golden tally but matched his overall medal haul, and did it the hard way.
Showing no signs of giving up despite racing in high-pressure sprints every day, Ikee saved her best for last with a victory in the 50 freestyle final in 24.53, an Asian Games record.
China's Liu Xiang, who broke the 50 backstroke world record a few days earlier, went stroke for stroke with Ikee down the entire length only to touch a fraction later in 24.60.
"I really hate losing," Ikee said. "I think it was just my willpower that helped me win. "I was really hurting in the last few meters but I just concentrated on the touch and luckily I got there first, but I used up all my energy I had."
Yasuhiro Koseki completed the men's breaststroke treble for Japan when he won the 50 in 27.07. And although the two region's sporting superpowers finished level on swimming golds, Japan won more overall medals in the pool than China, 52-50.
The next closest countries were Singapore and South Korea, who managed six each. Joseph Schooling, the Olympic 100 butterfly champion, won his country's two golds. South Korea picked up its first swimming gold in Jakarta when Kim Seo-yeong took out the women's 200 individual medley.
Sun Yang and Wang Jianjiahe, China's unstoppable freestylers, each finished with four golds after winning their last events.
Just 16, Wang added the 400 to her earlier victories in the 800, 1,500 and 4x200 relay. Sun, the former world swimmer of the year, won the 1,500 in 14:58.53, slow by his standards, but still a significant win as it saw him complete an unprecedented sweep of the 200, 400, 800 and 1,500 events.
"This is my third straight 1,500-meter freestyle gold medal at the Asian Games, which means 12 years. It is so difficult to achieve that,"Sun said. "I hope the four gold and two silver medals I won here would become an inspiration for me to work harder, because I want to achieve even better results in the future.
"To be honest, the pressure on me before the races was huge. But I managed to cope with it and held on till the end."
Sun said he was content with his six medals, including two in relays, and “the achievement here would definitely be a boost to my future races.”
The three-time Olympic champion Sun offered to help the team out in the relays even though it took the edge of his preferred distance races.
"If you participate in multiple events, there is more responsibility on your shoulders. I participated in many events to be a role model for young athletes," he said. "The competition between China and Japan is not over. It will last till the 2020 Olympics.
"We must learn the lessons and avoid the mistakes from these games."
Courtesy : thequint.com
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Allu Arjun attended 'Pushpa-2' screening despite police saying no: Revanth Reddy, actor refutes
Hyderabad (PTI): Despite police permission being denied, top Telugu actor Allu Arjun visited the theatre here where 'Pushpa-2' was screened on December 4, Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy charged on Saturday. However, the allegation was refuted by the top actor.
Even after the death of a woman in a stampede, the actor did not leave the cinema hall, prompting the police to force him out, CM alleged.
Responding to the issue after AIMIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi raised it in the Assembly, Reddy, referring to videos in circulation, found fault with Allu Arjun for holding a roadshow and waving to the crowds in spite of the heavy crowd.
Reddy further said the theatre management submitted a letter to the police on December 2 seeking security for the visit of top actors and others on December 4. However, the police rejected the application, citing difficulties in crowd management and the fact that the theatre had only one entry and exit.
Hours after Reddy slammed the actor, Allu Arjun, in a hurriedly held press conference, refuted the allegations saying, it was not true and in fact, the police were clearing the way for him and he reached the venue under their directions.
He, without referring to anyone, also refuted the allegations that he held a roadshow waving to the crowd.
"Had there not been permission, they would have told us to return and I am a law-abiding citizen. I would’ve followed that. Nothing of that sort of information was given to me. I was following as per their guidance and it was not a roadshow. There was no procession. It was just a crowd a few meters away from the theatre, he said, adding it was the police who were clearing the way for him and he reached the venue under their directions.
CM Reddy alleged that before entering the theatre and exiting, the actor stood through the sunroof of his car and waved to the crowds in a roadshow, leading to thousands of fans jostling to get a glimpse of him.
Reddy said thousands of fans gathered when the actor reached as there are several theatres at the locality.
The actor's private security pushed aside the fans, which led to a stampede-like situation, the CM said.
Reddy, who narrated the incident, said the theatre management did not initially allow a police official to meet the actor to convey him to leave the place in view of the prevailing situation. However, the official reached the actor and asked him to leave, as the crowd would not go unless he left. The actor did not budge.
A senior police official, who then reached the spot, told the actor to leave the place immediately, failing which, he would have to be taken to the police station as the situation was out of control.
The senior official forced the actor out of the theatre. Even while leaving, the actor again waved to the crowd. "What type of person (the actor was)", Reddy asked.
The actor allegedly did not behave properly with the police when the latter reached his residence to inform him about the case against him, he said.
The CM slammed film personalities for making a beeline to Allu Arjun's residence to meet him after his arrest but not showing empathy to visit the boy who is undergoing treatment in hospital and faced a brain dead-like situation after suffering injuries in the incident.
"I appeal to the top film personalities that they should not be inhuman," he said.
"When he (Allu Arjun) was taken to police station for a day, the high court also accepted lunch motion petition and gave him bail. Our people are saying release him at 12 in the night. Where is the provision (to release at midnight)?," he asked.
The CM also said he is continuously monitoring the boy's health condition.
The film industry can take incentives, subsidies from the government but there won't be any special privileges when untoward incidents like death in a stampede happen and said the government would not spare those who troubled common people, he said.
Reddy attacked BRS working president K T Rama Rao, without naming him, for his criticism against the government when Allu Arjun was arrested.
State Cinematography Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy spoke against allowing 'benefit shows' in the night without permissions. He announced Rs 25 lakh assistance from his side to the family of the deceased, besides the government taking care of the boy's health.
Meanwhile, the eight-year-old boy, who is undergoing treatment at a private super-speciality hospital here, is maintaining his vital parameters well on his own without any external support of oxygen or inotropes.
"He continues to tolerate nasogastric feeds well. He had recurrence of intermittent fever spikes for which some investigations have been sent. His neurological condition is static," the KIMS Cuddles, said in a release.
A 35-year-old woman died and her eight-year-old son was injured on December 4 during a stampede-like situation at the Sandhya Theatre in Hyderabad when thousands of fans jostled to have a glimpse of the actor at the premiere of the blockbuster 'Pushpa 2'.
Following the incident, the city police registered a case against Allu Arjun, his security team, and the theatre management under different sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at the Chikkadpally police station based on the complaint lodged by the deceased woman's family.
Allu Arjun was arrested by the city police in connection with the death of the woman on December 13. The Telangana High Court granted him a four-week interim bail on the same day and he was released from a prison here on December 14 morning.
