By Duncan Mackay and Nick Butler in Incheon
Click refresh for latest updates. All times stated are South Korean

BREAKING NEWS: China reinstated in women's 10m air rifle team shooting after being briefly disqualified (see 10:39 and 11:55)

Good night!

20:30 On that note, we are going to say good night from Incheon after another day of exciting sport. Join us tomorrow where squash will provide two of 30 medals to be won on day four, with tennis and bowling also offering their first medal opportunities. It is the final day of the judo competition, with the team final, while more medals will be on offer in swimming, synchronised swimming, fencing, weightlifting, wushu, cycling, gymnastics, badminton and shooting. 

We will cover all the sporting action as well as everything else going on, from missing Laotian sepak takraw players to bungling Indian administrators via, as ever, all things South Korean cricket related. Join us, as ever, at 09:00.

India shoot themselves in the foot again

20:27 One final story to leave you on, and whet your appetite for tomorrow. Abhinav Bindra may soon be gone from Indian shooting (see 22:04) but it appears these he leaves behind are still going to face plenty more problems with officialdom.

It has emerged that four shooters travelling here were forced off a flight in India heading for Incheon because proper paperwork had not been arranged for their weapons. They had faced long delays before being able to continue their journey.

Shweta Chaudhary had won a shooting medal for India ©AFP/Getty Images

The quartet of Shweta Chaudhary, Mansher Singh, Om Prakash, Onkar Singh were all offloaded from their flight despite clearing the customs first, said Verinder Dhall, manager of India's shooting here has revealed. The team were told they were carrying shooting accessories and overweight weapons that did not have clearance. Shooting officials are blaming the Indian Olympic Association.

Chaudhary went on to win a medal last Saturday in the 10m air pistol event but has claimed that she would have done even better if she had been able to use her own weapon.

21:25 On day three, we also saw China win, then lose, and then win again in the 10m air rifle shooting (see 10:39 and 11:55) after an overturned disqualification for an equipment violation. There were also cricketing wins for Hong Kong and Nepal, a first football triumph for Maldives and two Malaysian semi-final victories in women's squash to cheer. 

21:22 And there is the medals table after day three. It's not an especially bold prediction, but I do not think China are going to be caught from here. They are simply too good at too many sports and South Korea now need to look over their shoulder at a rampaging Japan, who are now just one gold medal behind. A battle for fourth place developing, with Mongolia's judo team level with North Korea's weightlifting one on three gold medals apiece, although I feel Kazakhstan, India and Iran have plenty more medals in them. Further down, two gold medals today for Myanmar in sepak takraw, and a first medal of any colour for Iraq. Laos also got a sepak takraw silver, although they lost bronze in farcical circumstances after their men's team were stripped of a guaranteed bronze after failing to turn up for their semi-final (see 16:23, 14:42 and 15:06)

Day three medals table ©ITG

21:19 But despite more South Korean judo and shooting titles, China have been the real winners on day three. A staggering 14 gold medals today, taking them 12 clear of the host nation. That badminton victory adding an extra cherry on top of the cake, but the two fencing titles, in a sport that South Korea had hitherto dominated, made a real difference. 

Are coaches the real winners?

Quote marks"The President of the Korea Judo Association gave me the position of head coach. That's why we were able to achieve good results" - Suh Jung-bok is in no doubt who should receive the credit for South Korea's impressive performances on the tatami at these Asian Games

China win final gold medal of day three in badminton epic

Incheon 2014 gold medal22:11  Wang Shixian wins the final set 21-19 over Bae Yeonju to give China an unassailable 3-0 lead in the badminton team final. Considering the calibre of the opposition, the Koreans fought well, but the Chinese were simply too good. Their mental toughness in racket sports is often overlooked, but when the pressures on, Chinese badminton and table tennis players invariably prevail. 

India and Japan, the two losing semi-finalists, take the two bronze medals. 

Olympic champion shooter announces retirement

22:04 Much excitement here among the large Indian media with the news that the country's only ever individual Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra has announced his retirement.

He revealed on Twitter that he will be quitting international competition after his appearance in the 10m air rifle event. "Tomorrow will mark the end of my professional shooting life! I will however still shoot, compete as a hobby shooter, training twice a week," Bindra wrote.

India's Beijing 2008 gold medallist Abhinav Bindra has announced that he will retire after competing here tomorrow ©AFP/Getty Images

The 2008 Beijing Olympic champion had hinted at retirement just before he won the Commonwealth Games gold earlier this year in Glasgow. The 31-year-old from Dehradun has been an outspoken critic of India's sports officials, including on the eve of the Games here when he was upset they had missed the entry deadline, which meant he had to fly back to India from the World Championships in Granada to get a visa before he could travel here. 

Baseball, handball, hockey and football round-up

Quote marks"I had a cold, but it got better, but since I cannot take medicine, it is not getting better easily. If it was not the middle of Asian Games, I would have gone to a hospital for a shot" - South Korean outfielder Kim Hyun-soo appears, to us, to be suffering from nothing more serious than dose of man-flu. The baseball player's side opened their account with a 15-0 win over Thailand earlier. 

21:55 A few other team results to bring you this evening. It wasn't 79-0 but Japan's handball team have handed out another hiding, 47-12 over India this time. India's women have also been vanquished, 39-12 by China. Chinese victory in men's football, by a much narrower 1-0 margin over Pakistan, while Japan beat Taiwan 3-0 in the women's competition. And in women's hockey, South Korea have defeated Kazakhstan 11-0. 

Maldives flag21:50 The Maldives women's football team have had a challenging time at these Games, conceding 38 goals in their three matches. But the men have just made amends, with a 3-2 win over East Timor in Group E. 

Considering Maldives have never won an Asian Games medal, and lost 79-0 to Japan in handball yesterday, that's quite a victory. 

Final judo and fencing medals and badminton update

21:42 We haven't brought you a women's team badminton update for a while, but the women's team final is still going on, the only gold medal still to be won on day three. For the first time it's not a reigning Olympic champion for China, only the defending Asian Games singles winner Wang Shixian up against Bae Yeonju of South Korea.

The home athlete won the first set 21-12 but lost the second 16-21. The first two matches in this best of five team contest lasted 65 minutes. This one is over 50 minutes already and, in the early stages of the deciding set at the moment, will probably surpass the first two.

Incheon 2014 gold medal21:34 It's all gone wrong for South Korea in fencing this evening. After clean sweeping the first two days of action, they've been foiled in the finals tonight. Ma Jianfei takes the men's foil gold over Heo Jun of the host nation, while Yuki Ota of Japan and Chen Haiwei of China take the bronze medals. 

Incheon 2014 gold medal21:30 Another good evening for Japan in judo as well as in the pool. Takeshi Ojitani wins the final individual judo title, defeating Duurenbayar Ulziibayan of Mongolia in the men's heavyweight, over 100kg competition. Kim Sungmin of South Korea and Abdullo Tangriev of Uzbekistan take bronze. 

I feel the team event tomorrow may bring more clashes between Japan and Mongolia. Although China and South Korea will have something to say about that. Will they be the four medal winners?

Medal hostesses will have had a busy evening

Chinese weightlifting victory but first medal of Games for Iraq

World record icon21:25 There hasn't actually been a world record today in weightlifting, but Tissot, the Official Timekeeper of the 17th Asian Games Incheon 2014, will present the Tissot World Record Award to North Koreans Om Yun-chol and Kim Ungukand to Hsu Shu-ching of Taiwan, who have all claimed world record breaking golds in the sport, it has been announced this evening. 

The athletes will be present with their award, a special limited edition 17th Asian Games watch to commemorate their record-breaking achievements. Which will be followed by a photo session opportunity. 

Incheon 2014 gold medal21:22 We can't stay away from the medals for long, and another to report in weightlifting. And I did place a curse, because Lin Qingfeng has overcome his 2kg snatch arrears to, well, snatch the under 69kg title away from North Korea's Kim Myonghyok by virtue of a lighter bodyweight. 

A first medal of the Games for Iraq in third place. Karrar Mohammed J Mohammed Kadhum taking the medal. A fantastic moment given the current political problems there...

Squash showcasing for Olympic inclusion

21:17 Malaysian squash superstar Nicol David believes that she is not only playing for a fifth Asian Games gold medal but for the very future of her sport.

The 31-year-old, who reached the final here earlier today (see 15:40), is widely regarded as the greatest female squash player in history, having also won seven world titles and consecutive Commonwealth Games gold medals. But she has never appeared on sport's biggest stage because squash is not on the Olympic programme.

She was heavily involved in squash's campaign for inclusion in 2020 and had given up on making it to the Olympics when that proved unsuccessful. But the election of new IOC President Thomas Bach has given her new hope that squash still be included at Tokyo 2020.
"This year there is still a bit of chance that the IOC might consider changes with the new Olympic President. So hopefully at the end of this year we will find out whether there is change. So I'm just going to play, compete and do my best to showcase the sport."

Japan win relay for Hagino's second gold of the night in final swimming race of night

Incheon 2014 gold medal21:13 Speaking of which, the final race of the night has finished in the pool. Japan beat China to a gold, no surprises there, but by a full 10 seconds to set a Games record 7:06.74. South Korea take bronze. Japan's winning team consisted of Yuki Kobori, Kosuke Hagino, Daiya Seto and Takeshi Matsuda, so a second gold of the night, and third in two days, for Hagino. 

21:12 A great underwater shot of the 200m breaststroke swimming earlier. 

An underwater shot of the 200m breaststroke final

Judo friendship off the mat, and wins for China and Mongolia on it

Incheon 2014 gold medal21:07 And there is another Chinese victory in the final women's category, Ma Sisi taking the heavyweight spoils after defeating Nami Inamori of Japan. Bronzes go to South Korea's Kim Eunyeong and Thonthan Satjadet of Thailand. 


Incheon 2014 gold medal21:02 Back on the mat, where no judoka worth his salt is friends with anyone, and Tuvshinbayar Naidan wins the men's under 100kg category, defeating Maxim Rakov of Kazakhstan in the final. Bronze medals go to Cho Guham of South Korea and Ramziddin Sayidov of Kazakhstan. 

20:58 Speaking of rivalries, a great moment here following the South Korea v North Korea judo final earlier (see 20:32). Off the mat, the duo get on well and are good friends. 

Quote marks"Sol Kyong was the world champion last year and she is the one who I am afraid of most. I feel relieved that I didn't get any injury and won in the end. I call her 'Un-ni [meaning older sister in Korean]' when I meet her at a competition. I feel really friendly with her, more than other judokas." - South Korean judo champion Jeong Gyeong-mi speaks of her friendship with her North Korean rival following their under 78kg clash earlier.

China edging rivalry with South Korea

Chinese flag20:54 More success for China as Zhao Yunlei and Tian Qing win the final set of the badminton doubles, 21-12, to put the team 2-0 ahead of South Korea in the women's team final. Both matches have lasted 65 minutes so far. And both Chinese to compete have been reigning Olympic champions so far. Given that, the host nation are doing well, but they have to start winning now in this best of five match format.

If they do, we could be playing late into the night. 

Incheon 2014 gold medal20:49 There are South Korea v China clashes everywhere tonight, and Sun Yujie has edged a thrilling fencing title for the Chinese, over South Korea's Shin Alam. That is the first fencing gold not won by the host nation, and a sign they are losing ground rapidly in the "top-of-the-medals-table-race". It was close, super-close, though, 6-5 Sun's winning margin.

Kong Man Wai Vivian of Hong Kong and another South Korean, Choi Injeong, took bronzes. 

Watanabe wins swimming gold for Japan

Kanako Watanabe celebrates after he 200m breaststroke victory for Japan ©AFP/Getty Images

20:46 After five events in the pool, only one non Sino-Japanese medal has been won, Tao Li of Singapore's silver in the 50m butterfly the only exception, and even she was born in China, the daughter of two provincial-level swimmers in Hubei Province.

Of course, the final event is the 4x200m freestyle relay, so we are guaranteed an new country on the podium. Unless every other team fails to finish that is... Stranger things have happened. 

Incheon 2014 gold medal20:44 At last, someone other than a Japanese man or a Chinese woman has won a swimming gold. It's... a Japanese women. Kanako Watanabe leads home a 1-2, in fact, in the 200m breaststroke, ahead of Rie Kaneto. Her time is 2:21:82 for yet another Asian Games record. Third place, you've guessed it, is China, in the form of Shi Jinglin.

Weightlifting, baseball and badminton update

20:41 South Korea have won their baseball opener, 15-0 against Thailand. Meanwhile, the host nation are still battling valiantly with the Chinese in the badminton. They lead 14-11 in the deciding set of the doubles match in the women's team final. China having won the first singles rubber. 

20:37 Before we head back to the pool, a quick weightlifting update as the daily frantic period continues here at Incheon 2014. Kim Myonghyok of North Korea leads after the snatch, and, given the nature of the sport so far here, that means game over, because no one is better at clean and jerking than a North Korean... 

I've probably cursed him now, but Kim lifted an Asian Games record 160kg in the under 69kg event. He leads by 2kg's from Lin Qingfeng of China. A long way to go yet. 

Japan and South Korea take opening judo titles

Incheon 2014 gold medal20:32 And a thrilling second final has just this moment concluded in the women's under 78kg competition. It's North versus South Korea, to add some extra spice and in the final seconds of a nip and tuck contest Sol Kyong is awarded a shido penalty, meaning Jeong Gyeongmi takes gold for South Korea!

The two bronze medals went to China and Japan, these two just can't get off the podium at the moment. Zhang Zhehui and Mami Umeki are the respective recipients. 

Incheon 2014 gold medal20:25 Yuya Yoshida has won the first judo gold medal of the night, in the men's under 90kg category, beating Dilshod Choriev of Uzbekistan in the final. Gwak Donghan and Otgonbaatar Lkhagvasuren of Mongolia take the two bronze medals. 

20:18 It's 1-1 in the women's doubles badminton in the team final. South Korea snatching the first game 21-19, but China, ominously, hitting back 21-7 in the second. 

Hagino wins second swimming gold

Quote marks"Michael Phelps is my role model and I'm trying to become like him. I want to catch up with Phelps someday. But I have to put up the results and this is a big step. First I will try to win as many medals as I can at these Games" - Japan's Kosuke Hagino is setting his sights high, but the way he's going so far, he could have a chance. Plenty more gold medal chances to come as well...

Incheon 2014 gold medal20:13 Japan are continuing to prove just as dominant on the men's side in the pool, as the star of last night Kosuke Hagino wins again, this time in the 200m individual medley. He defeats team mate Hiromasa Fujimori by over three seconds, clocking a superb 1:55.34 for an Asian and Asian Games record, while Wang Shun of China takes bronze.

More Chinese success, but they can occasionally lose

Qatar flag20:10 China can, however, be defeated. It just doesn't happen that often. It has in handball, with Qatar easily winning their Group C clash 35-16 to top the group, ahead of Oman, who also qualify (see 17:32), while China are eliminated.

Incheon 2014 gold medal20:04 Another female event, another Chinese gold in the pool. They haven't lost one yet, and Shen Duo leads home compatriot Tang Ye to win the 100m freestyle in a swift 54:37. Miki Uchida of Japan picks up the final place on the podium. Surprise, surprise. 

19:58 Judo gold medal action is about to begin, as is the final stages of fencing and weightlifting. But back to the pool, and more gold medals are being won...

First blood to China in badminton

China draw first blood in the badminton team final ©Getty Images

Chinese flag19:52 Meanwhile, in one of the most anticipated events of the evening, South Korea are up against China in the women's badminton team final over at the Gyeyang Gymnasium. China take first blood, as London 2012 Olympic champion Li Xuerui overcoming Sung Jihyun 17-21, 21-13, 21-16 in a gruelling 65 minute clash. 

The doubles is underway now and South Korea lead 17-16 in the first set. There is absolutely nothing in this. 

But if the host nation are going to stay within touching distance of the Chinese, they really need to get something out of this match you feel...

Pool action underway, with China and Japan dominating again

Incheon 2014 gold medal19:43 The gold medals are coming thick and fast now in the pool. In fact, we've got our chronology slightly wrong because the first of the night went to Lu Ying of China, in an Asian Record time of 25.83, in the women's 50m butterfly.

The minor medals went to Tao Li of Singapore, and another Chinese, Liu Lan.

Incheon 2014 gold medal19:37 It was at about this time last night that Japan's incredible gold rush started in the swimming pool. They will be hoping that history repeats itself as Junya Koga has just won the men's 50m backstroke for the third consecutive Asian Games. 

Ryosuke Irie takes silver for Japan and Xu Jiayu of China the bronze. Irie just missing out on a sixth Asian Games gold after taking the 100m title yesterday. That is his eighth medal. 
Does your mother know that your here?
19:25 Interestingly, North Korea's medal in the women's team (see 18:40 and 19:15) was their first in gymnastics at the Asian Games since Doha 2006. Its gymnastics team was banned from participating at Guangzhou 2010 when one of its athletes, then 15-years-old, was caught lying about her age. Hong Su-jong, a sister of Hong Un-jong who is also a gymnast, was found to have overreported her age by one year at the 2004 Athens Olympics, as 16 is the legal age to compete.
 
Since then, further revelations about how North Korean gymnasts at those Games lied have emerged. On the eve of Incheon opening, the International Gymnastics Federation announced that Cha Yong-hwa has been banned and stripped of all her results since 2006 for falsifying her age. This included the team silver and uneven bars bronze she won at Doha 2006. For the full background to this story click here for the article we did on it. 

Most predictable gold medal of Incheon 2014?

19:15 China's victory in the women's artistic gymnastics women's team final (see 18:40) surely was one of the most predictable at these Games as it was the 11th consecutive time they had won the event.  

But, as it becoming increasingly obvious, the Chinese coaches are reluctant to shower too much praise on their athletes. "The performance of the girls was normal today," said Ye Zhennan, China's team manager. "It is the hardest time for the women's team because of being short of hands."

Tan Jiaxin helped China to victory in the women's artistic gymnastics team event for the 11th consecutive Asian Games ©AFP/Getty Images

China also occupied all top three seats in the individual events except the vault, but have the top five in the floor exercise. Also among the competitors was 39-year-old Oksana Chusovitina, the vault gold medallist in the Goodwill Games as long ago as 1990 and winning an Olympic title in the team event at Barcelona 1992. 

She is now back competing for Uzbekistan, where she was born, having previously represented the Soviet Union, the Unified Team and Germany. The Asian Games will always have special memories for Chusovitina. Besides the six medals she has won in the Games, including two gold, she also met her husband Bakhodir Kurbanov at the 1994 edition in Hiroshima. 

Victory all down to Kim Jong-un, says record-breaking weightlifter

Quote marks"With our leader Kim Jong-un's teachings in mind, I pledged to do my best. I wanted to break the record, and I worked hard to bring success to Kim Jong-un" - North Korean weightlifter Om Yun-chol explaining who was the inspiration as he reflected on his world record and gold medal in the under 56kg category on Saturday. Watch out for North Korea's archers is all I will say, at least if this picture is anything to go by...

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un watches his country's archers train for the 2014 Asian Games ©AFP/Getty Images
China show their class to win artistic gymnastics women's team gold

Incheon 2014 gold medal18:50 China have outclassed their opponents to claim the gold medal in the artistic gymnastics women's team final. They scored total score of 229.300, a long way ahead of silver medallist North Korea with 214.650 and third-placed Japan with 214.350. 

Salmonella detected in athletes' lunch boxes 

18:40 A potential outbreak of food poisoning among the athletes here has been prevented, it is being claimed after organisers detected salmonella in lunch boxes before they were handed out. 

The bacteria was found on Sunday in meat included in boxed meals provided by a food caterer. A spokesman for Incheon 2014 told  the news agency Agence France-Presse that all 76 lunch boxes prepared by the firm were immediately thrown away. The salmonella, which can cause severe stomach cramps, diarrhoea and vomiting, was detected by South Korean food safety officials who screen all the athletes' food here.

"It is our policy to dump the entire stock even if one sample is found to have been contaminated," the spokesman said. "We've decided to replace the food catering company with a different one following the unfortunate event.

Among those who had requested the packed meals were athletes competing in shooting, fencing, weightlifting and sepaktakraw. They were forced to wait several hours until a replacement snack of bread and milk was provided.

Badminton bubbling up nicely

18:30 The final of the women's badminton team event between China and South Korea is just starting so this seems a good opportunity to tell you about the men's event. World champion Chen Long smashed Malaysian world number one Lee Chong Weiin the semi-final Monday, helping China to book their place in tomorrow's final, which will also be against South Korea. The Chinese favourites will take on South Korea in the men's team final after the hosts easily dispatched Taiwan 3-0. 

Battered and bruised after a game of cricket?

18:15 Some reaction to Hong Kong's cricket victory over South Korea earlier from the two sides:

Quote marks"I honestly didn't even know that they played cricket in Korea so we didn't really know anything about them. I think give them a few years to develop and play more games, they have real potential for improvement there" - Ishitaa Gidwani, captain of the Hong Kong women's cricket team, after they had beaten hosts South Korea by 35 years. You and us both Ishitaa...

Quote marks"During the Games I hurt my knee, my back and many of us - our bodies are covered with bandages. A lot of people said they were surprised by our ability since we have only been training for about six months" - South Korea's captain Oh In-yeong is pleased they have made an impression but has discovered cricket is not the genteel sport people think it is...

Hong Kong were comfortable winners over South Korea ©Getty Images



Weightlifting and cycling medals action

Incheon 2014 gold medal18:05 And we have that under 58kg weightlifting result to bring you now and, what did I say, North Korea have done it again in the clean and jerk. Ri Jonghwa managing eight kilograms more than anyone else, 134kg, to win with an overall mark of 236kg, with Wang Shuai of China on 235kg. North Korea seem to have got China's number in this sport...

Thailand's Rattikan Gulnoi took the bronze medal. A first medal of Incheon 2014 for Thailand.

Incheon 2014 gold medal17:56 It's a dominant victory for China in the women's team pursuit cycling final. The quartet of Zhao Baofang, Huang Dongyan, Jiang Wenwen and Jing Yaliset set an Asian Games record of 4:28.469, lapping their South Korean opponents in the final which automatically gave them victory.

Taiwan beat Japan in the battle for bronze.

17:49 A bit later than promised, but time for a weightlifting update. It's the women's under 58kg competition this afternoon and, amazingly enough there have been no world records so far. It's not over quite yet, however... In the snatch component, Wang Shuai of China led the way with a best lift of 109kg, ahead of Ri Jonghwa of North Korea, who managed 102kg.

Given what happened in the men's under 56kg competition the other day, you cannot write off any North Korean in the clean and jerk.

Strong start for Taiwan in baseball

17:40 From one bat sport to another, as, with cricket over today, we can focus on the first day of action in baseball, a very popular sport in this part of the world. Taiwan defeated Hong Kong 12-0 in their first preliminary match in the men's competition earlier.

The Group B encounter at the Munhak Baseball Stadium was called in the seventh as Taiwan led by more than 10 runs. They are one of three leading contenders for men's baseball gold along with South Korea and Japan.

Chih Hsien Chiang scored three runs, Chen Pin Chieh and Lin Han each two runs. The Taiwanese put runs on the scoreboard from the first to sixth innings except for the second. Hong Kong made just two hits in 22 at bats for seven innings.

Their next match is a big one, against host nation South Korea.

"There are many good pitchers and hitters in Team South Korea, so we need to prepare a lot," Ming Tsu Lu, head coach of Taiwan, said. "We have practised at large and small stadiums. As Munhak Baseball Stadium is small, the ball goes over the fence easily. We need to practise with that in mind."

Unprecedented handball success for Oman

Oman flag17:32 Oman, the Gulf nation that played host to the 2010 Asian Beach Games, have only ever won four medals at the Asian Games proper. Mohammed Al-Malki won two of them, including the only gold, over 400m way back at Beijing 1990. 

17:28 Some good reaction from the Oman handball team following the news we told you about (exactly two hours ago, at 15:28 by sheer coincidence). 

Quote marks"I'm so glad because it's the first time for Oman to advance to the second round. Now we'll try to take the next step to reach a higher spot. You know, our players are very tired now. We played against three tough teams in a row. So we need to get some rest tomorrow. And we will monitor our video closely. You know, we lost to the United Arab Emirates by on point in this year's Asian Men's Handball Championship in Bahrain. I know that we are better than what we were at the Championship in terms of physical and technical abilities."
- Oman coach Elsobky Bassem Abdelmoaz Mostafa following their victory over UAE earlier

China versus South Korea in team track cycling...again

17:20 We will come back to weightlifting in a moment, but the track cycling programme this afternoon is also underway. There is only one final today in the women's team pursuit, and we already know who the two contenders are. After China v South Korea clashes in two team spring and one team pursuit final so far, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work it out... 

South Korea trail two one in their own private finals duel, but China are the fastest qualifiers. Japan, meanwhile, will face Taiwan for bronze. 

17:12 A lot going on "around the grounds" now in Incheon. On the screens in the Media Centre we have basketball in front of us - sadly cricket is over for the day - while elsewhere I can see judo, handball and weightlifting.

China take synchronised swimming and wushu titles

Incheon 2014 gold medal17:06 Actually, make that another Chinese gold. Yu Mengmeng has taken women's taijiquan/taijijian all round honours in wushu, Lindswell of Indonesia claims silver, while bronze goes to Ai Uchida of Japan.

16:58 China dazzling their way to synchronised swimming gold. They are now three gold medals clear of South Korea on the medals table after an impressive third day of action so far. 

A rhythmic part of the Chinese routine ©AFP/Getty ImagesChina somersaulting to success ©AFP/Getty ImagesChina en route to team gold ©AFP/Getty Images

Incheon 2014 gold medal16:50 China have won another gold medal in synchronised swimming. A 10-strong squad taking gold with 94.3333 points ahead of Japan and North Korea. Sun Yijing, who won gold in the duet competition earlier in the Games, was part of the winning squad. 

China celebrate gold in synchronised swimming ©AFP/Getty Images

Victory for Hong Kong in cricket

16:43 A medical professional and a teacher's aide, Gill was one of two players suspended from the sport cricket for a year by the Hong Kong Cricket Association after withdrawing from the squad that was due to compete at the 2012 Twenty20 Asia Cup in Guangzhou. The pair had withdrawn in protest after captain Neisha Pratt was removed from the squad because of eligibility issues.

Hong Kong flag16:34 Victory for Hong Kong in the women's cricket match we were obsessing about earlier. Hong Kong made 92-6 in their 20 overs, before South Korea were all out for 57. Kanwardeep Keenu Gill the star for the winners, with 33 runs and then a couple of wickets.

Heavy traffic costing Laos

16:23 There's obviously been a few traffic problems today because wushu events at the Ganghwa Dolmens Gymnasium were delayed by 40 minutes earlier for the same reason. None of those players were disqualified though...

But while the wushu arena is located on Ganghwa, which is part of Incheon even though it is an island about two hours away, sepak takraw in the Bucheon Gymnasium is closer to home, so they don't have the same excuse.

16:12 A breakthrough in terms of finding out what happened to the Laos sepak takraw team, who were disqualified after failing to appear for their semi-final yesterday (for more, see 14:42 and 15:06). The South East Asian country have since won a women's silver, their first Asian Games medal in the sport. 

Quote marks""Even though I'm proud of the women's team for taking home a silver medal, we think the ruling for the men's match yesterday was unfair. Our men's team advanced to the semifinals and we are supposed to get a bronze medal. However, just because we were late, the medal was given to another country."We had a match earlier and the players were tired so we decided to go back to athlete's village to take rest for a while. Unfortunately, when we were heading back to the venue, we were stuck in a traffic jam, causing us to arrive 30 minutes late, the committee disqualified us just because of the mentioned reason. If the victory had only been cancelled it would still had been acceptable, but they cancel our medal and give it to Singapore; it is not fair."
- Team manager Vangkeomany Sengthong explaining problems faced by Laos.

Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan through in men's team tennis

16:04 Unfortunately Kei Nishikori, the Japanese star, who became the first East Asian Grand Slam finalist earlier this month at the US Open in Flushing Meadows, is not here in Incheon. The Japanese player beat Serbian superstar Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals before losing to Marin Cilic of Croatia in the final match. 

15:54 One sport we haven't mentioned much so far here is tennis. We're getting to the business of the men and women's team competitions this afternoon with eight quarter final clashes. It's a best of three format, with two singles and one doubles match. So you only require a minimum of two players per team, although most seem to have three. 

Uzbekistan are the first team to win on the men's side after getting the better of South Korea, 2 sets to 1. World number 59 Denis Istomin was instrumental in that victory, winning a singles match on straight sets.  Central Asian neighbours Kazakhstan are also through after a 2-0 match win over India. Japan win the first match against Thailand, while China and Taiwan are locked at 1-1. 

Taiwan's point has come courtesy of world number 43 Lu Yen-Hsun, who I best remember for knocking out future two-time Grand Slam winner Andy Murray from the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. 

All Malaysian final in women's squash 

Nicol David beats Dipika Pallikal of India in the squash semi-final ©AFP/Getty Images

Malaysian flag
15:40 One of the superstars here in Incheon, world number one Nicol David of Malaysia, is through to the women's squash final after a 3-0 victory over Dipika Pallikal of India.

"It was a good match, I played well," said the 31-year-old. "I caught to my game especially in the middle of the first game through the end of the game.  I'm really pleased to move forward to tomorrow's match."

David is chasing a fourth Asian Games squash singles title, to go with her Bangkok 1998, Doha 2006 and Guangzhou 2010 triumphs. She also won silver at Busan 2002. 

As expected, she will face compatriot Low Wee Wern in the final after the world number seven overcame Annie Au Wing Chi of Hong Kong in the other last four match.

"I think we're going to lose"

Quote marks"Japan's very strong, but we want a chance. It's going to be very hard. I think we're going to lose."
Kuwait's team official Blooshi M A Muhammad will not have helped team morale too much after predicting his team to lose to Japan in the men's volleyball. They've just beaten Saudi Arabia 3-0 so he's got no reason to be too negative. "Obviously the gold," is his more confident answer when asked about the Kuwaiti ambitions in Incheon. 

Wins for Bahrain, Iran and Oman in handball

15:28 A handball result to bring you from earlier as Bahrain edge Saudi Arabia 26-20 in the Battle of the Gulf countries. That result means Bahrain win Group A ahead of the Saudi's after both got the better of Mongolia. In the other matches today, Iran defeated Kuwait in Group B while Oman defeated the United Arab Emirates. 

Good to see Western Asia doing well in the handball. Incidentally, it is countries from the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Qatar who have best mastered the use of Twitter here in Incheon, perhaps unsurprisingly because they don't have alternation social media sources, as parts of East Asia do,

Thanks to the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee/Twitter for this picture below of that narrow handball loss...

Saudi Arabia face Bahrain in handball ©Twitter

Two gold medals for China, in shooting and wushu

Incheon 2014 gold medal15:19 An amazing few minutes for China, world ranked number one Zhang Jingjing has also claimed the gold medal in the women's shooting 25m pistol event. Compatriot Chen Ying narrowly missed out on a seventh Asian Games gold.

The Beijing 2008 Olympic champion won the silver medal while Mongolia's Gundegmaa Otryad, who was second behind Chen in Beijing, took the bronze.

Incheon 2014 gold medal15:11 Wang Di of China, meanwhile, has won the first gold medal of the day in wushu. He scored 9.78 to finish first in the nangun event of nanquan/nangun all-round event.

Junhua Huang of Macau won a narrow silver, while Kai Kuei Hsu of Taiwan took the final place on the podium.

Laos timed-out in sepak takraw?

15:06 Perhaps "timed-out" it was happened to Laos yesterday in their sepak takraw semi-final? See 14:42 for more on Laos failing to turn up. Singapore's captain was not complaining after they were promoted to bronze, but neither does he know exactly what happened...

Quote marks"I want to express my congratulation for all other countries who won medals. This Asian Games was the opportunity for us to prove that our team was strong and competent. Last night we were surprised, too. We are not sure what was the main cause yet." - Singapore captain Mohamad Amran after the fortuitous sepak takraw bronze medal.

Run-outs galore in the cricket 

14:56 There are ways a batsman can be dismissed in cricket, but only four commonly occur. These are "caught", "bowled" (when the ball hits the stumps), "LBW" or leg before wicket (when the ball hits their pads when it would have otherwise hit the stumps), "run-out" (when the ball is thrown in to the wickets by the fielding team before a run has been completed).

Batsman can also be out "stumped" (a variation on a run-out when a batsman is run-out by the wicket keeper when out of their crease after a ball is bowled) or "hit-wicket" (when they unintentionally demolish the stumps with their bat or body). 

The other four ways are so rare I feel it will just confuse people, if you're not already confused. But for the record, they are "timed out", "obstructing the field", "handled the ball" and "hit the ball twice". Timed-out has only occurred five time in the history of the first-class game, most recently in April this year when Ryan Austin was dismissed after failing to appear in the stipulated maximum time allowance of two minutes for the Combined Campuses and Colleges versus Windward Islands at Kingstown, St Vincent. 

It's also worth knowing however that for the batsman to be given out, the fielding team have to appeal to the umpire by asking "how's that?" It is a polite game for gentleman after all. 

Hong Kong score a run, and avoid another run-out, in the cricket ©Getty Images

14:50 Three wickets for South Korea in the cricket and all three come after run-outs, with one very impressive direct hit. Hong Kong are now 67-3 in the 14th over. 

Stripped of a medal after failing to turn up?

14:42 We're trying to find out more about why exactly Laos failed to turn up, but no luck so far. At the Summer Youth Olympic Games last month, Ukrainian shooter Polina Konarieva cost herself, and Moldovan team mate Ion Aric a medal shot oversleeping and missing a critical round of the 10m air pistol international mixed team event.

No mixed team component here so no danger of a diplomatic incident, but surely the entire Laotian team did not oversleep?

14:35 Returning to the men's sepak takraw and, Singapore, who won one of the two bronze medals by virtue of being a losing semi-finallist, did not actually lose in the semi-finals at all, it turns out... The team, Mohamad Farhan Amran, Muhammad Hafiz Nor Izam Ja'afar and Eddy Nor Shafiq Sahari, were the fifth-best team after the opening pool stage but were awarded bronze because Laos failed to turn up in their semi-final against South Korea.

14:30 Some more reaction to double-gold for Myanmar in sepak-takraw

Quote marks"It was not too difficult, but it was not easy at all" - Myanmar's Kyu Kyu Thin after winning the women's sepaktakraw doubles. Here's the victorious men's team, consisting of three players but only two who compete at one time, again, following their win earlier...

Latt Zaw Lin, Aung Wai and Zaw Aung Zaw celebrate sepak takraw gold ©AFP/Getty Images

Hong Kong make a slow but solid start in the cricket

14:22 Are you really watching this, a South Korean in the Media Centre has asked us, nodding towards the cricket screen. "Yes", is our rather adamant reply. "Oh," he says, "I just wondered". "We're from England," I reply, to be met with a look of dawning comprehension and understanding, and, unless I am mistaken, a very slight shake of the head. 

14:15 How would you classify this bowler, I ask editor Duncan Mackay. "Slowish-medium pace?". "Just slow," is the reply. 

Slow is the order of the day here at the Yeonhui Cricket Ground so far in the South Korea v Hong Kong clash. The outfield is so painfully pedestrian I feel a Ferrari would run out of speed before reaching this boundary. We've had six overs and the rope is yet to be cleared here, with Hong Kong 29-0.

"Bring the boundary forward and cut the grass," adds Mackay, who, after motivating the Japanese team shortly before their six gold medals last night (see 19:54 on our live blog yesterday), is turning his attention to cricket now. He is fast on his way to sorting out all the sporting problems on this continent. 

Sun is not shining in the pool, at least not tonight anyway

14:09 Chinese swimming superstar Sun Yang will not compete in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay event scheduled for Monday evening, his coach said.

"Sun will not race in the 4x200m relay tonight," Zhang Yadong told Xinhua.

Zhang didn't give any explanations, but a source close to the Chinese swimming team say that Sun need to rest after he was edged into second place by Japan's Kosuke Hagino in the men's 200m freestyle final Sunday evening.

Sun slowed down in the last few meters as the trio, which also included South Korea's Park Tae-hwan, headed to the finish neck-and-neck. Sun blamed his defeat on a hand injury.

"My hand hurt towards the end, so I couldn't speed up," said the 22-year-old.

Judo, shooting, wushu...and cricket on day three

13:59 But women's cricket action is also about to resume. It's the Hong Kong versus South Korea clash in Women's Group C that we told you about earlier. Hong Kong are batting first after winning the toss, we can tell you...

13:52 The final shooting gold medal of the day is taking place soon, the individual women's 25m pistol event. There are also medals to be won soon in wushu.

13:43 Five more judo events will take place later today. A piece of news we brought you yesterday was that the United Arab Emirate squad, including under 73kg world number one Victor Scvortov, had been sent home for breaking residency rules after the entire team switched nationality from Moldova. Read our full story on this here. 

It's the three heaviest male, and two heaviest female categories today, ahead of the team competitions tomorrow. 

Iran win first gold medal of Games...again

13:36 Iran have never won a female Olympic medal, in contrast to 60 male ones, but they did take a few at the last Asian Games in Guangzhou, including in rifle shooting. They won one female gold four years ago, for Khadijeh Azadpour in the women's sanda event in wushu. A good achievement considering that sport is more associated with East Asia. 

Najmah Khedmat is awarded her shooting gold medal ©AFP/Getty Images



Incheon 2014 gold medal13:27 And we can now confirm that Najmeh Khedmati has won the first Iranian gold of the Games, after taking the women's 10m air rifle shooting crown. She did briefly have gold earlier in the team event, after China were disqualified before being reinstated, but this was is for certain, we hope...

And it's a 1-2 for Iran as Narjes Mamgholinejad Andevari takes silver, with Zhang Binbin, the Chinese shooter who was responsible for the disqualification due to having incorrect equipment, taking bronze. 

13:19 Final stages of the women's 10m air rifle now and Najmeh Khedmati of Iran is the current leader. The final was delayed, presumably due to the disqualification and then reinstation of China in the corresponding team event (see 12:02), which affected this final because Zhang Binbin is now competing. She is in third place at the moment as well...

More sepak takraw success for Myanmar

Myanmar flag13:10 So that is double gold in sepak takraw doubles for Myanmar. The discipline, known locally as chin lone, is considered more of an art than a sport in Myanmar and there is often no opposing team, with the focus more about keeping the ball aloft gracefully and interestingly. So like, a school-yard game of keepy-uppy than. They haven't done badly here  in a competitive sense, however...

I wonder if they have the rule where if you make a mistake you have to turn around while the rest of the team take pot shots at you. I still have the scars from that at school...

Incidentally, Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar but formally known as Burma, adopted a new state flag in October 2010 to replace the former flag in use since 1974. The new flag was introduced along with implementing changes to the country's name, which were laid out in the 2008 Constitution, including the aforementioned change in the country's name. 

13:02 Incheon 2014 gold medalBut this medals table is changing almost as quickly as Manchester United conceded goals in their 5-3 English Premier League defeat to Leicester last night. South Korea have taken silver in the men's doubles sepak takraw final, losing out 21-18, 21-19 to Myanmar in the final. 

Beaten semi-finalists Japan and Singapore took the two bronze medals. 

12:53 Remarkably, that means China and South Korea are both on 13 gold and 10 silver medals. China have 11 bronzes in comparison with 10 for South Korea, so are top. But there is nothing in it...

First home gold of day three

Incheon 2014 gold medal12:46 South Korean have won their first gold medal of day three, after edging medals table rivals China to the women's 25-meter pistol team title, winning by just a single point. 

The team of Kim Jang-mi, Lee Jung-eun and Kwak Jung-hye claimed top spot with 1,748 points, din comparison with China's 1,747 points, while India scored 1,729 for bronze.

It is South Korea's third shooting gold of the Games following their men's 10-m air pistol team and individual double yesterday.

12:35 No women's cricket for an hour and a half now until South Korea face Hong Kong in Group C - our East Asian female cricket specialist Duncan Mackay will have to come back into the commentary box for that one - so we will turn our attention back to the shooting. 

World's best cricket grounds, outside Incheon that is...?

12:27 And here are two of the more beautiful: Arnos Vale in the Caribbean Island of St Vincent and the Grenadines and the 'Valley of the Rocks", home of Lynton and Lynmouth CC in North Devon, England. Can you spot which is which?

Arnos Vale Cricket Ground in St Vincent and the Grenadines ©Getty ImagesLynton and Lynmouth Cricket Club play in the "Valley of The Rocks" ©Getty Images



12:22 Below are three of the world's most famous: the MCG in Melbourne, Eden Gardens in Calcutta and Lords in London, also the location for the archery competition at London 2012. 

The Melbourne Cricket Ground, or MCG, in Australia ©Wikipedia


Eden Gardens in Calcutta ©WikipediaLords Cricket Ground the home of cricket ©Lords

12:17 Speaking of picturesque cricket grounds, it got me thinking about the world's most beautiful ones, and, oh I say, as I type, a suicidal run by the Malaysians, like trying to climb Everest i

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About the author

Duncan Mackay Editor

Duncan Mackay

Duncan Mackay is the founding editor of insidethegames.biz, the world’s leading and most influential independent Olympic news website. He was voted the British Sports Writer of the Year in 2004, British News Story of the Year in 2004 and British Sports Internet Reporter of the Year in 2009. Mackay is one of Britain's best-connected journalists and during the 16 years he worked at The Guardian and The Observer he regularly broke several major exclusive stories. He was also the only newspaper journalist in Britain to correctly predict that London would win its bid for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

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