ALL THE NEWS, ACTION AND REACTION

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

BREAKING: Qatar's women's basketball team have withdrawn from the Asian Games on in protest about a FIBA rule that bans players from wearing the hijab in competition (see 17:45)

Cambodian soft tennis player Yi Sophany becomes second competitor expelled from Asian Games after positive drugs test (see 16:45, 17:05 and 17:08)

Good night!

23:00 Tomorrow, there are only 22 gold medals to be won on a ever-so-slightly quieter day. But it shouldn't  be quiet in the street of Dhakar and Islamabad when Bangladesh and Pakistan go head to head in the women's cricket final. It is the final night of action in the pool, and in weightlifting with the two heavyweight competitions, always a highlight of any major sporting event. In equestrian, we have the concluding showjumping stage of 3-day eventing, while trampolining and triathlon mixed relay action will also take place. Oh, and shooting. Always shooting, with six more titles decided tomorrow. 

Join us then!

22:57 A lot happening away from the medals with confirmation that Qatar have pulled out as well as the identity of another athlete, a Cambodian soft tennis player this time, who has failed a drugs test.

22:54 Yet while South Korea will be delighted with that result, they have slipped to third place on the medals table as fierce rivals Japan enjoyed a superb evening. Three wins in the pool amid further triumphs in fencing, gymnastics and cycling. But there's nothing in it, three silver medals, so all to play for, and the ending of swimming medals after tomorrow should help the host nation. No stopping China though, another stunning day, with eight wins in shooting, five in rowing, three in the pool, two in gymnastics, and further wins in fencing, cycling and weightlifting, although they didn't win in cricket!

A good day for North Korea as well with two more wins, as for Iran, while Mongolia slipped down after markedly less success. And a first medal, a gold, for Qatar, further down the table, as United Arab Emirates also managed their first podium finish. 

Medals Table after day six ©ITG

22:50 So, that gold medal for China brings us to a fitting end after the sixth day of action here in Incheon. Two final results to bring you away from the medals, as South Korea take a 3-0 win over Hong Kong in the men's football, while Thailand beat China, 2-0.

Zou wins second gold to wrap up gymnastics action

Incheon 2014 gold medal22:46 We can now confirm that Zou Kai of China has won the horizontal bar title, for his second gold medal of the Games, following victory on the floor yesterday. Silver and bronze go to Japan, in the form of Yusuke Saito and Masayoshi Yamamoto. 

22:38 Back in the gymnastics and Zou Kai is heading for gold. He scores a total of 15.800 to lead the final gymnastics event of the competition, the horizontal bar. There are still a few contenders to come, but they'll do well to beat that score...

A mixed day for Qatar

22:28 It really has been a bittersweet day for Qatar after the withdrawal of their women's basketball team. But there was more good news this evening as the men's handball team continued their unbeaten record with a 28-19 victory over Bahrain. They are on course for the semi-finals.

22:18 Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, secretary general of the Qatar Olympic Committee, pictured with the Qatari double trap shooting team. 

Qatar's victorious double trap shooting team with Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, secretary general of the Qatar Olympic Committee ©Twitter


Round-up after day one on the greens

22:10 Tomorrow is a big day for golf today because it marks the beginning of the 40th Ryder Cup on the PGA Centenary Course at the Gleneagles Hotel near Auchterarder in Perthshire, Scotland. The Ryder Cup, if you don't know, being a biennial team tournament between Europe and the United States. In fact, if you want to know more, you can read Brian Oliver's blog about it: Ireland's long wait for a Ryder Cup captain

Taiwan flag22:02 One other sport that begin today was gold with the first round in the men's strokeplay competition held over a mammoth 11 hours. Pan Chen Tsung of Taiwan started superbly, moving six under par at the end of the day. Two South Koreans, Kim Nam-hun and Youm Eun-ho followed closely with -5.

Pan Chen Tsung played a solid game, with no bogies as his strong driving was complemented by flawless putting. "For my day, it was good. I played solid all the way through. I drove well. Putting was good," he commented. I will be more comfortable with the greens and the course and will play more aggressive, and hopefully shoot lower scores."

Kim Nam-hum followed a similar game plan, as he did not allow a bogie and scored five birdies. He put in three in the first half and two in the second half. Kim had his putting slip a little in the second half, not converting birdie opportunities that he had created. "My shot was not the very best today, so my strategy was to be safe in the first half and be more aggressive in the second half," he said. "The first half was okay with -3, but the second half was a bit disappointing as my putting did not go as planned."

It was a totally different story for the other South Korean insecond place. Youm Eun-ho started with a bang as he started with two birdies, then followed with an eagle at his fourth hole. Another eagle at his 12th hole and a birdie at his 14th hole saw his score go down to -7. This was his high point as he was leading by two in the scoreboard. However, he double bogied at his 15th hole as he missed two putts. "It was really a silly mistake," he said after."I made a bad shot from the bunker, then I had three putts. I was too greedy to try to put it in at once."

Other players also did well, as 20 of the 80 players hit under 72 shots. One of the most focused players, boy wonder Guan Tianlang, finished tied for fifth with 69 shots. However, these scores did not meet expectations as many considered the golf coursean  easy with little or no elevation. Other players pointed toward the wind as a factor, and others commented that the green was hard to read at times. Hole 13 was commentedon by many as the hardest hole. Although it is was a par three, its extensive range made it hard, with only two out of 80 players managing a birdie on it.

China and Japan both win in gymnastics

21:50 All the titles tonight have been shared between different nations, with North Korea and Hong Kong winning the first two events earlier on. Last up tonight, it is the men's horizontal bar final, with reigning Olympic champion Zou Kai hot favourite to add to his floor triumph yesterday. 

Incheon 2014 gold medal21:44 On the floor meanwhile, Yao Jinnan  takes the first Chinese gymnastics title of the evening, winning with a score of 13.966 ahead of team mate Shang Chunsong. Yun Narae of South Korea took bronze.


Incheon 2014 gold medal21:35 Confirmation now that Yuya Kamoto of Japan has won the men's parallel bars. That score of 15.800 good enough to beat Anton Fokin of Uzbekistan into second place. The final performer, Dinh Phuong Thanh of Vietnam, did enough to take bronze.

That is Kamoto's third gold medal of the Games.

Shek Wai Hung of Hong Kong competing in the vault final earlier ©AFP/Getty Images

21:24 Back in the gymnastics, Yuya Kamoto looks like he is heading for a third gold of the Games. Japan's team and all around champion, who also won a bronze on the floor yesterday, leads deep into the parallel bars competition with a score of 15.800. Only Dinh Phuong Thanh of Vietnam is still to come...

Saudi Arabian flag21:18 And in handball, Oman so nearly pull off another big win, but they are edged by Saudi Arabia, 31-29.

21:12 A few team sport results to bring you now. After the narrowest of wins for Pakistan over India earlier, there's been another very close pool stage match in men's hockey, with South Korea overcoming Malaysia, 2-1. Close matches are all the rage tonight, as Qatar's men's basketball team  - who unlike their women are still participating here - overcome Japan, 58-56.

Thai flag21:06 Lots more going on elsewhere however. After baseball last night, our South Korea hosts are focusing their attentions on football tonight. Their team are locked 0-0 with Hong Kong in the last 16 clash, but a cheer goes up as Thailand take the lead in the other match. A fairly outrageous back heeled assist into the six-yard box, before Adisak Kraisors knocks the ball home...

21:00 So, as with last night it is just gymnastics left now this evening. The men's parallel bars and women's floor finals are underway, with the horizontal bar final still to come later, at 22:10, so definitely the latest start time for any event so far...

Japan win final swimming gold of penultimate evening in pool

Incheon 2014 gold medal20:50 Japan win the final gold medal of the night in the pool and, in the absence of China who were were disqualified in the heats, they dominated the race to win in 4:00.94. South Korea took silver with 4:04.82, and Hong Kong clocked 4:07.15 for bronze.

China were disqualified after, Lu Ying who swam the butterly leg, illegally stayed underwater for longer than the permitted 15m.

Leading member of Tokyo 2020 Bid team wins fencing gold

20:43 Here he is addressing the IOC membership during the Tokyo 2020 bid presentation, mere hours before they were awarded the Games. 

Yuki Ota addressing the IOC ©Getty Images

20:38 Yuki Ota, who began that fightback, is one of the most high profile Japanese fencers. He won the individual foil title at Doha 2006 before taking individual Olympic silver at Beijing 2008 followed by team silver four years later in London. He was also a Tokyo 2020 Ambassador who played a leading role in the final stage of the Japanese capital's campaign to land the Olympics and Paralympics at the IOC Session in Buenos Aires just over a year ago. 

Incheon 2014 gold medal20:33 The final event of the fencing programme took place this evening and, in a case of leaving the best until last, Japan fought back in dramatic fashion to edge China 45-42 in men's foil team event. 

China started well and held the lead after the opening five bouts.  But Yuti Ota began the fightback with 11 points in the sixth bout, and the Japanese team, also containing Kenta Chida,, Ryo Miyake and Daiki Fujino, took victory from there. Hong Kong and South Korea shared bronze. The only fencing team event, incidentally, in which South Korea did not reach the final.

Another backstroke title for Irie in the pool

Ryosuke Irie celebrates after his 200m backstroke title ©AFP/Getty Images

Incheon 2014 gold medal20:25 Japan's Ryosuke Irie has clocked 1:53.26 to win gold in the men's 200m backstroke, breaking his own Games record of 1:55.45. Xu Jiayu of China took silver with 1:55.02, and Irie's teammate Kosuke Hagino won bronze with 1:56.36.

Irie, who lead the race from start to finish, had revealed after this morning's heat that he planned to employ a different technique to the one he had used when winning the 100m. "I won in the 100m backstroke but the 200m is a different event - I'll do my best to adjust my technique and manage the race for the 200m distance," he had said. 

It seemed to pay as Xu, who started off rather slowly, slipping to fourth at 50m but, despite speeding out, leaving himself too much to do, as he finished half-a-body length behind Irie.  

Gymnastics gold for Hong Kong and North Korea

Incheon 2014 gold medal20:17 In the women's artistic beam, North Korea's Kim Un-hyang has won with a total of 14.700 points. Phan Thi Ha Thanh of Vietnam was silver medallist 14.433 points, while Shang Chunsong of China took the bronze with 14.300 points.

Incheon 2014 gold medal20:13 Over at the Namdong Gymnasium, gold medals are starting to be handed out in the gymnastics. Hong Kong's Shek Wai Hung has clinched the gold in men's vault, scoring total of 15.216. Yang Hak-seon of South Korea came second with 15.200. The bronze medal went to China's Huang Xi, who scored 14.800.

Chinese double in 800m freestyle

Incheon 2014 gold medal20:09 China's Bi Yirong and Xu Danlu have taken  first and second in the women's 800m freestyle. Bi won with 8:27.54, and Xu clocked 8:33.89. Asami Chida of Japan took bronze with 8:34.66. For the long distance event, the 15 participants were divided into two heats. The seven swimmers with the slower qualifying times swam in the morning.

FIBA? Hello, anyone there...you have a crisis here

Quote marks"I ask the concerned authorities to let us play with the hijab - there are many Arab countries that want to participate but are reluctant to do so because of the laws of the International Basketball Federation" - Qatar centre Amal Mohamed Awad warns that basketball for women will suffer in the Middle East unless FIBA lift their ban on the hijab. We are, insidethegames admit, very surprised that the world governing body are remaining so silent on this issue as it threatens to become a major crisis for them. We asked them for a reaction nearly two hours ago but were told the only person who could help us was in Turkey and he couldn't speak to us...

Ning Zetao proves himself fastest man in water in Asia

South Korea's Park Taehwan (right) looks on as China's Zetao Ning celebrates after his victory in the final of the men's 100m freestyle ©AFP/Getty Images

19:50 The South Korean media may be focussing on Park Tae-hwan's so far unsuccessful quest for a gold medal (see 19:35) but Zetao's winning time in the 100m freestyle was 47.70, setting a Games record. 

Zetao, winner of the 50m freestyle earlier, added another gold in the 100m distance, lead the race from start to finish and claimed the title as the fastest Asian sprinter. Park, who has not denied that the pressure of big expectations from the home ground crowd has been disturbing his focus after the 200m and 400m freestyle finals, seemed to have shaken off the pressure, as he was fourth at the half way point, but finished hard with a split time of 24.99 for the second half.

Meanwhile, it was a disappointing race for Shio

Quote marks"We caught a break there. We've been getting whacked a bit over the last few days" - Japan's swimming coach Yoshiaki Takemura after rivals China were disqualified in the semi-final of the women's 4x100m medley lead-off swimmer Wang Xueer failed to surface before the 15m mark. Japan need to make sure they take advantage now in the final later tonight. 

China and Japan's night so far as South Korean Park denied gold again

Incheon 2014 gold medal19:35 South Korean Park Tae-hwan's quest to win a gold medal in the swimming arena goes on. He was defeated again tonight in the 100m freestyle, finishing behind China's Ning Zetao. But, at least, having claimed bronze medals in the 200ｍ and 400ｍ freestyle, and 4x200ｍ and 4x100ｍ he won a silver this time. Shinri Shioura of Japan took the bronze.

Incheon 2014 gold medal19:22 There's not been many places during these Games where South Korea could claim to have mastery over great rivals China. But the fencing was one, which will make their defeat to them in the final women's epee team so disappointing. 

South Korea were comfortably beaten too, 43-19. From the beginning, China led the game, and with Sun Yujie winning 14 points in the last bout, defeated South Korea by a total of 24 points. 

Incheon 2014 gold medal19:20 Satomi Suzuki has added another gold for Japan in the pool, as she clocked 31.34 in the women's 50m breaststroke. China's Suo Ran, who finished at 31.52, and He Yuzhe, who came in at 31.62, took silver and bronze respectively.

India v Pakistan. It doesn't matter, no really, it doesn't - it's China we care about

Quote marks"Pakistan played today's game like it was THE finals of the tournament.This game was not as important as the finals. This does not mean that the preliminaries are not important because these matches are the process to reach to the finals. However, our team did not have enough excitement and desire as Pakistan had. We will show such desire and excitement when we go to the finals. We will be more enthusiastic when we have a match with China" - India were not excited about a match against Pakistan, at least that is what their Australia coach Terry claimed after their 2-1 defeat (see 18:48) 

Incheon 2014 gold medal19:09 Of course, Chinese disqualification from one event does not mean they won't win all the others, and Shi Yang duly starts off the Chinese medal quest in style with an Asian Games record breaking victory in the men's 50m butterfly. 

Shi winning in 23.46, ahead of Joseph Isaac Schooling of Singapore, who won the 100m event last night, and Yang Jungdoo of South Korea. 

19:03 So, straight from the velodrome to the pool, and the first of six swimming finals on the penultimate night of action in the sport. The big shock earlier was the fact China will not be in the women's 4 x100m medley relay final after a missed changeover this morning. 

Hong Kong win final gold medal in cycling

Incheon 2014 gold medal18:58 Just before we turn our attention to the pool, we have a final cycling gold medal of the Games to report. Lee Wai Sze of Hong Kong won the first race in the best of three sprint final, and, when Chinese opponent Zhong Tianshi was relegated in the second race, she had confirmed herself gold. 

Lin Junhong of China takes the bronze medal, after defeating Fatehah Binti Mustapa of Malaysia.

18:55 One extra bit of news following that brilliant keirin final earlier. The result we gave you was the final one, but Malaysian Azizulhasni Awang who had crossed the line in the first three had already been relegated, thus promoting his team mate Ng into third. 

Pakistani flag18:48 Elsewhere, a 4-0 win for Japan over Palestine in football, but a big result on hockey. Pakistan's men have beaten arch enemy India, 2-1. It might no longer be the great rivalry it once was at the top of the sport, but a big win nonetheless. It's been a good day for the Pakistanis, in fact, as they are also into the final in women's cricket.

Not so good, again, for India. 

Iran take shock win in men's keirin

Incheon 2014 gold medal18:44 It's been a mixed day for Qatar, but a brilliant one for Iran. A single sculls rowing victory earlier has been followed by a shock win for Mohammad Daneshvarkhourram in the keirin on the final day of the track cycling programme. 

Kazunari Watanabe of Japan is second, a minuscule 0.014 behind, while Josiah Onn Lam Ng of Malaysia places third. While Ng won a World Championships silver medal in this event in 2010 and Watanabe has also made a world final, the Iranian has come nowhere near. He is ranked 235th in the world!

18:39 It has been a bittersweet day for Qatar. Disappointment in basketball, but a gold medal in shooting in a thrilling men's double trap event earlier, in which Qatar, China and Kuwait all finished on the same score.

Qatari shooting champions following their victory ©Twitter

"If Kim Jong-un says he is happy, whether I live or die, I would have won the gold medal"

Quote marks"Thank you for cheering me on. Thanks to the people cheering for me, I gathered strength. Even if it's just a little bit, I wanted to bring happiness to the people who supported me and to our Marshall (Kim Jong-un)  If Kim Jong-un says he is happy, whether I live or die, I would have won the gold medal." - Kim Un-guk of North Korea reflects on his weightlifting gold medal earlier.

Japan take gold in bowling

Incheon 2014 gold medal18:26 Masatoki Yoshinao and Takahashi Toshihiko  have taken the men's doubles bowling title with 2,533 points for Japan. In fact, it's a Japanese 1-2 as Sasaki Tomoyuki and Yoshida Daisuke take the silver medal, while Rachmadian Hardy and Islam Billy Muhammad of Indonesia take bronze. 

So each bowling event has been won by a different country so far, with Thailand, Taiwan and now Japan the three winners. Slight disappointment for Indonesia who had been battling for gold earlier in the competition, but a solid podium finish nonetheless. 

More on "hijab-gate"

Quote marks"It's an insult to us, they don't respect religion" Qatari basektball player Rafaa Morgan Mohammed following the withdrawal of her women's team in a row over the hijab


18:13 insidethegames' reporter Paul Osborne has just called the International Basketball Federation - FIBA - at their Swiss headquarters in Mies to seek their own view on the escalating row over the withdrawal of Qatar's women's basketball team here because they are not allowed to compete in the hijab (see 17:45). He was told the person who could comment is in Turkey for the Women's World Basketball Championships and we should send an email. I was always under the impression that they had telephones too in Turkey...

World record iconNorth Korea weightlifter set another world record


Incheon 2014 gold medal18:10 Kim lifted 128㎏ in the snatch and then hoisted a world record of 164㎏ in the clean and jerk for a total of 292㎏ , an Asian Games record. Kim beat by a kilogram the previous clean and jerk record owned by Nadezhda Yevstyukhina of Russia since 2011.

Kim's gold medal is the fourth in weightlifting for North Korea and the country's ninth in the sport. Only China, with 10 medals, has won more at the Moonlight Festival Garden Weightlifting Venue.

North Korea's Kim Un-ju celebrates winning her country's fourth gold medal in the weightlifting ©AFP/Getty Images

Earlier in the men's competition, North Korea's Kim Un-ju set world records in total and snatch, while compatriot Om Yun-chol broke a clean and jerk world mark. Eight new world records have come from weightlifting so far.

18:04 We are hearing news of another North Korean world record in the weightlifting, this time Kim Un-ju breaking world record in clean and jerk in the women's under 75kg category. More when we get it. 

Gold for Chinese Taipei in women's omnium

Incheon 2014 gold medal17:57 Hsiao Mei Yu of Chinese Taipei has won the women's omnium at the Incheon International Velodrome. Hsiao rode a very tactical final points race to finish the event on 227 points. Second was China's Luo Xiaoling on 213 points. Bronze went to South Korea's Na Ah-reum, who finished nine points further back.

17:49 Qatar's Chef de Mission Khalid al-Jabir claimed the women had been targeted and forced out of the Games. "We're not forfeiting games - we're not being allowed to play," al-Jabir had said before the game was supposed to start. "On the one hand, everyone wants more women to participate in these games and, on the other hand, they're discouraging Muslim women who want to play in hijab."

Qatar women's basketball team officially withdraw from Asian Games

Asian Games officials said they did not receive any instructions from FIBA to allow head coverings, and were simply following the rules which restrict the use of headgear, hair accessories, and jewelery when they awarded the result to Mongolia yesterday

17:45 Qatar women's basketball team have officially withdrawn from the Asian Games in protest at being banned from wearing the hijab, they have confirmed. Qatar delegation leader Khalid al-Jabir said the team had decided to withdraw and was already preparing to return home. See our story from yesterday for full details on the row. 

Qatar was due to play Nepal this afternoon but did not show up at the venue. Officials took their places, starting line-ups were distributed to the media and announced to the spectators, but none of the Qatari players arrived.

"We did not get any intimation from the Qatar team on whether they'll come for the match or not," technical delegate Heros Avanesian said. "We had no option but to wait for them before awarding the match to the other team."

South Korea into handball semis

17:42 Defending champion South Korean men's handball team became the first to advance to the semi-finals by defeating rivals Iran 25-21 in a closely fought game. Eom Hyo-won led the way with six goals for South Korea, while Ehsan Aboueimehrizi countered with six of his own.

Quote marks"I am sorry to my wife, but I feel happier for my pupil's achievement than my wives" - Son Sang-won, husband of Kim Mi-jin, who won a gold medal in the women's double trap event earlier today (see 13:51). Son coaches Kim Jun-hong, winner of won two golds and two silvers at these Asian Games. I fear Mr Kim Mi-jin may be on washing-up duty for a bit when he gets home...

Guangzhou rematch in women's cricket final

17:15 Bangladesh's victory over Sri Lanka (see 16:55) sets up a repeat of the women's cricket final in Guangzhou four years ago. But Bangladesh will be hoping they make more of a match than they did on that occasion, when they were beaten by 10 wickets. Meanwhile, China will be chasing their second consecutive bronze medal, having beaten Japan by seven wickets in 2010. I fear Sri Lanka may prove to be tougher opponents this time. The action starts at the Yeonhui Cricket Ground tomorrow with that bronze medal playoff at 09:30, followed by the final at 14:00. 

Teenager Yi Sophany becomes second competitor expelled from Asian Games

Cambodian soft tennis player Yi Sophany has been expelled from the Asian Games after failing a drugs test ©OCA

17:08 Yi Sophany is only 18 and took up soft tennis, which like regular tennis is is a racket game played on a court of two halves, only four years ago. She is a member of the Police Club in Cambodia. She says Serena Williams is her hero. 

What is sibutramine?

17:05 Sibutramine is often found in diet and slimming pills but in banned in many places, including Europe and North America, as it has been associated with increased cardiovascular events. The drug was originally developed and marketed by Knoll Pharmaceuticals and was most recently manufactured and marketed by Abbott Laboratories before its withdrawal from the market. It was sold under a variety of brand names including Reductil, Meridia and Sibutrex.

The highest profile case in sports involving sibutramine came when in 2010 when Romania and Fiorentina striker Adrian Mutu tested positive for the drug. He was given a nine month ban but only served six months of it. 

Sibutramine has been on the list of prohibited substances from the WADA since 2006.

Bangladesh on course to for women's cricket title after easy win over Sri Lanka

Bangladesh flag16:55 Bangladesh have beaten Sri Lanka by 25 runs at the Yeonhui Cricket Ground to head to their second consecutive Asian Games final, where they will meet Pakistan, the defending champions (see 12:56).

Cambodian soft tennis player expelled from Asian Games after positive drugs test

16:45 Yi Sophany, a Cambodian soft tennis player, has been revealed to have been the second competitor to test positive for a banned substance at these Asian Games, the OCA has announced. News of the case had first emerged yesterday evening (see 18:32
on yesterday's blog). 

She has tested positive for sibutramine, a prohibited substance in the World Anti-Doping Agency's Prohibited List 2014, said the OCA during a pre-competition test on September 16. This substance is a specified stimulant under category S6b of the list.

The OCA  has disqualified Sophany from the competition as well as the Games and to withdraw her accreditation.

Besides, the findings will be forwarded to the competitor's national authorities, the international federation of the sport concerned, namely the Asian and International Soft Tennis Federations, and WADA  for further action on their part as per sanctions concerning eligibility.

Earlier, Tajik footballer Khurshed Beknazarov tested positive for a banned stimulant, after his urine sample was collected in his country's opening match on September 14, and was disqualified from the Games.

Success for Bangladesh, Indonesia and South Korea

16:33 We're heading for a tight finish in the cricket, and we haven't too many of those so far. Sri on 54-6 in the 14th over chasing 96 to win against Bangladesh. We said that the Bangladeshi total of 94-4 was better than it first appeared, and so it is proving...

Indonesian flag16:27 In bowling, meanwhile, Indonesia pairs are occupying the top two positions. Islam Billy Muhammad  and Hardy Rachmadian lead Leonard Lalisang Ryan and Yeri Ramadona. Qatar, suddenly cannot get away from the medals, they are in third place, ahead of the Japanese pair who led after the first group. Indonesia is another nation who hasn't too much to get excited about so far, so a win here would be very good indeed. 

South Korean flag16:22 A couple more updates to bring you now, starting with three day eventing at the Dream Park Equestrian Venue. It was cross-country action today, with the top four from the individual dressage discipline maintaining the same ranks. South Korea's Song Sang-wuk remarked that the cross country course was tough, despite remaining as number one. China's Hua Tian and Japan's Toshiyuki Tanaka ranked second and third respectively. 

Ten out of twenty-four scored jockeys received no penalty points. Two jockeys, one each from China and Qatar were eliminated, while Ali Mohammed Al Marri retired out of the competition today due to an injury. The scores earned today individually will accumulate to determine the team ranking. Currently, South Korea is leading, followed by Japan and Hong Kong.

The third discipline event of jumping will take place tomorrow afternoon. 

Japanese double in triathlon

Incheon 2014 gold medal16:14 A second gold medal of the day to report in triathlon now, and it's another one from Japan as Yuichi Hosoda opens up a 13 second gap on the run to win from compatriot Hirokatsu Tayama, while Bai Faquan of China takes the bronze medal. 

Hosoda ran his 10km split in 31:24.

Indian flag16:08 I feel the need to remind Indian readers that their country is languishing down in 15th place on the medals table, with just a solitary gold and silver medal, and 13 bronzes including the one won by Singh Sawarn. India are languishing two places behind squash and shooting powerhouse Kuwait, and four places behind sepak takraw supremos Myanmar

16:06 Singh Sawarn of India falls from his scull as Artyom Kudryashov of Uzbekistan looks on following the men's single scull final earlier.

Singh Sawarn of India takes a tumble following his single sculls bronze medal earlier ©Getty Images
15:56 Iran beat the Philippines 68-63 in the men's basketball in the end, so there was a bit of a fightback but the gap was too big. An even closer match between China and Taiwan elsewhere, with the Chinese edging it by a single point, 59-58.

Bangladesh flag15:48 Speaking of cricket, Bangladesh made 95-4 in their 20 overs of the other semi-final. Lata Mondol top scoring with an unbeaten 34 off 43 balls. On a normal pitch, you would say that total is nowhere near good enough. But on this one, well, it's hard to tell. If Sri Lanka make a good start, they should knock of those runs, but if they lose early wickets and the pressure ramps up, they could find it really tricky...

China dominate shooting events on day six

15:40 China, amazingly, won eight of the 10 shooting events today. Only the women's double trap, that went to South Korea's Kim Mi-jin (see 13:17 and 13:53) and the men's team double trap that was won in thrilling fashion by Qatar (see 14:22-14:28) evaded their grasp. 

That has been neatly supplemented by five titles in rowing, not to mention a triathlon bronze. Oh well, they did lose their cricket semi-final...

Incheon 2014 gold medal15:33 And the final one, of 10, shooting results to bring you, as China's Zhai Yujia defeats Jo Yong-chol of North Korea to win the men's 10m running target competition. Bakhityar Ibrayev of Kazakhstan picks up the bronze medal.


Kuwait flag15:25 A good event for the Gulf, the double trap, with that gold for Qatar earlier. Kuwait's silver medallist, Aldeehani, remarkably, is 48 and won the double trap way back at Hiroshima 1994!

Incheon 2014 gold medal15:18 China's Hu Binyuan shot a total of  26 points to clinch the gold medal in the men's double trap individual event over at the Gyeonggido Shooting Range. It seems shooting medals are never going to stop today...

Kuwait's Fehaid Aldeehani captured the silver medal, his score of 25 meaning he was narrowly edged out. United Arab Emirates' Juma Almaktoum gained the bronze scoring a 29 against Qatar's  Rashid Hamad S A Alathba.

Philippines on course for a basketball medal?

15:10 National Assembly member Lee Jasmine, a naturalised South Korean originally from the Philippines, watching the Philippines clash with Iran.

Quote marks"Basketball is really popular in the Philippines as baseball or football is in South Korea. You can see lots of Filipinos in this complex to support their team, you know. I came here with people from a Filipino community. I think Philippines is one of hot favorites in basketball, and will win a medal in this Asian Games." - Philippines are trailing 65-51 at the halfway point of their clash, despite that pedigree. 

14:58 Back to the sport to bring you up to date with what is happening around Incheon this afternoon. Taiwan and South Korea have secured places in the finals in the women's compound team event at the Gyeyang Asiad Archery Field. The Taiwanese defeated India 226-224 before South Korea beat Iran 229-222. Both the final and the bronze medal match will take place on Saturday (September 27).

OCA criticism of international federations following hijab incident

Andrey Golubev, pictured at the US Open last month, is one of the players to pull out ©AFP/Getty Images

14:50 The tennis element of that statement refers to the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals), the body responsible professional men's tennis tour, who have threatened to fine and ban players for three years, who have registered to play in the China Open but instead compete in the Asian Games. The China Open begin on Monday (September 29), with the men's singles final taking place here on the following day (September 30).

As a consequence, team champion Andrey Golubev and Alekstandr Nedovyesov of Kazakhstan as well as Denis Istomin and Farrukh Dustov of Uzbekistan have all pulled out of the singles. But Taiwan's Lu Yen-hsun has refused.

"I can deal with the fine, that doesn't matter. But I can't accept the ban," Lu said, according to the Apple Daily. "We were shocked when we received the notification. It came just an hour before registration for individual events [at the Asian Games]. Now all that can be done is to play until I can't play anymore."

In comparison, the WTA has reportedly taken a much more open position than the ATP, allowing players competing at the Asian Games flexibility on when to report to the China Open or pulling out of the competition. Considering previous bans for doping in tennis have been no more than two years, this does seem very harsh. 

14:42 Back to that basketball story yesterday, where the Qatari team withdrew from their women's match against Mongolia due to not being allowed to play wearing a hijab, the Olympic Council of Asia have issued a press release,‬ reminding sports governing bodies to protect the rights of athletes to represent their country.

The statement refers to tennis, when six players were "forced to withdraw"from the Asian Games or risk a penalty from the ATP of US$100,000 (£61,000/€78,000) and three-year suspension, as well as the basketball incident.

"The right of the athletes must be the highest priority," said OCA director general Husain Al-Musallam insists. Every athlete has the right to represent their country's flag without discrimination or without the threat of a financial penalty.

Qatar's women's basketball team were banned from playing wearing a hijab ©Twitter

The OCA said these two incidents were "against the ideals of the Olympic Movement as they prevented athletes from representing their flag at international events". They draw the attention of the sports authorities for both federations to the Fundamental Principles of Olympism under the IOC Olympic Charter, relating to the "preservation of human dignity" and "non-discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement".

"The whole Olympic Movement is doing its best to protect the athletes against illegal betting and doping and to protect the rights of an athlete to practise sport," the statement concludes. "We will do our duty to coordinate with all parties concerned because this information was given during the Asian Games and not before. We will maintain good and positive dialogue with all parties concerned for the future in order to protect the rights of the athletes."

14:35 It's not going particularly well for Bangladesh in the cricket. They are 37-2 against Sri Lanka after nine overs, and finding it really hard to get runs on this pitch, with their opponents doing a really good job of pinning them down with lots of slow bowling and close-knit fielders. Then again, given this pitch, anything over 80 or so seems a decent score, so maybe they are not doing too badly...

Qatar win gold in shooting!

14:28 Qatari Olympic Committee celebrations...We thought we'd leave the tweet in Arabic, but, for those who don't understand, the gist is, well, "congratulations!"

Qatar celebrate double trap shooting gold ©Twitter

Incheon 2014 gold medal14:22 A big, big gold medal to bring you now, because, after all their problems in women's basketball yesterday, Qatar have just taken gold in the men's team double trap shooting. And it has come in absolutely thrilling fashion, after Qatar, China and Kuwait all finished tied on an Asian record breaking score of 404 points.

The trio of Masoud Hamad S A Al Athba, Rashid Hamad S A Al Athba and Hamad Ali H A Al Marri won by virtue of having the best final round score, with China taking silver and Kuwait the bronze. South Korea slipped to fourth after a poor final round. 

Baseball and cricket: hitting and throwing sports update...

Sri Lankan flag14:15 In cricket meanwhile, the second women's semi final has just begun. It's Sri Lanka against Bangladesh in the first meeting between two of the more established nations. And second ball, Sri Lanka draw first blood. An audacious slog attempt by Shahanaz Parvin and she gets nowhere near the ball and is clean bowled!

14:08 A bat sport update now, as Japan power past Mongolia 21-0 to secure themselves a certain spot in the baseball semi-finals. After last night's super-clash in the other group, won by South Korea over Taiwan, the Taiwanese will be the probable semi final opponents, with the prospect of that South Korea v Japan super final definitely still on.

Winds of protest blowing at the badminton?

14:03 An interesting story blowing around the Japanese and South Korean press involving badminton today. There have been complains that strong winds emanating from Gyeyang Gymansium's air conditioning ducts have been playing havoc with the shuttlecock.

One case occurred in Sunday's (September 22) men's team quarterfinals, when Japan was eliminated by host nation South Korea. Some Japan players complained that the wind sent their shuttlecock off course, others said it was just a part of the game everyone must adjust to. Kenichi Tago lost to South Korea's Son Wan Ho, who rallied from a game down to win the first match 2-1, with Tago furious at what he perceived as a distinct disadvantage from the second game when a strong headwind began to blow in his direction. Allegedly, it persisted to blow at Tago, even after the pair changed sides in the final game...

There have been complaints over the air conditioning system used in the Gyeyang Gymnasium ©AFP/Getty Images

The organisers have denied manipulating the ventilation in favor of the host, and stressed there is no mechanism in place to control the volume of air pumped out of the vents. The report said a power outage occurred at the venue on Saturday due to an electrical spike, and because of that the organiser switched the air conditioning on and off to conserve electricity on Sunday (September 23) repeatedly running it for one hour and then switching it off for half an hour. And the organising coordinator said judges found no problem with the ventilation system upon inspection.

But players from other nations reportedly also complained about the strong wind conditions at the venue, although some have also called it fair since both players could be at a disadvantage.

13:55 Four of those medal winners - North Korea's Pak Myong-won and Jo Yong-chol along with China's Zhai Yujia and  Kazakhstan's Bakhtiyar Ibrayev  - are through to the four-man men's 10m running target final later on. This event was removed from the Olympic programme after Athens 2004. 

Closing stages of the men's double trap team event, and there's been a couple of missed shots by South Korea, meaning it's all to play for there, with Qatar and Kuwait both in with a shout...

Incheon 2014 gold medal13:50 We're getting towards the final stage of the double trap competition that we have mentioned already a few time today. But the 10m running target team event has just finished, with China claiming gold with 1,717 points, ahead of North Korea and Kazakhstan.

13:43 Back in the shooting and that double trap result we told you about earlier was a bit of a surprise. No one really expected South Korea's Kim Mi-jin to win, with team mate Son Hye-kyoung the team leader, only to finish two points behind the bronze medalist and down in fourth place. 

Quote marks"I'm so happy that the dream came true. I always thought that winning the victory wasn't my thing. Thanks to my mom, son, and family-in-law," - Kim Mi-jin after winning the gold medal.


We're being told Kim broke the world record as well, with her score of 110 points. but Wang Yujin's two decade old Asian Games record is 112, so we're not sure about that yet. 

Japan start well in bowling doubles

Japanese flag13:36 First bowling update of the day, meanwhile, with the men's doubles event being held on day six. The competition is split into Group A and Group B remember, with there no difference in ranking between either so the medal winners just as likely to come from either group. Japan's duo of Sasaki Tomoyuki and Yoshida Daisuke set the total to beat in the first group with a combined score of 2,502.

Second place was taken by the United Arab Emirates team of Hussain Naisir Alsuwaidi and Nayef Eqab Jaber with 2,461 points, while South Korean pair, Choi Bokeum and Park Jongwoo, were third with 2,427.

China and South Korea share titles in women's double trap shooting

13:28 That means India have now taken 15 medals at these Games, but all but two of them have been bronze. It seems a long time ago that Jitu Rai took gold on the opening day here in Incheon. 

Incheon 2014 gold medal13:24 But it's China who take the corresponding women's double trap team gold won at the same time. They shoot a total of 315 points to clinch the gold medal. South Korea came in second with 314 points, while India shot 279 points, grabbing the bronze.

Incheon 2014 gold medal13:17 Gold for South Korea in shooting, as Kim Mi-jin secures a total of 110 points to clinch the gold medal in the women's double trap individual event. China's Zhang Yafei captured the silver medal with a 108, while her team mate Bai Yiting took bronze, just a single point behind. 

13:10 A couple more photos appearing of those rowing finals earlier, held under beautiful blue skies at the Chungju Tangeum Lake Rowing Center. These two pictures sum it up pretty well I feel. Chinese dominance but Iranian gold the stand-out moment. 

China celebrate winning the mens eight rowing ©Getty ImagesMohsen Shadinaghadeh of Iran celebrates his single sculls victory ©Getty Images


Pakistan cruise past China at cricket

Pakistani flag12:56 China have suffered a defeat this morning, a thrashing in fact, in cricket. Yet, the team did so well to get this far, you can't really make much of it. They were always likely to find Pakistan a step too far, and after being dismissed for 37 in 19 overs, with taking four wickets at a cost of just seven runs, Pakistan required just eight over to get the runs, for the loss of just a single wicket.

They will not face the winners of this afternoon's contest between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh for the gold medal. 

Records galore for South Korean archers

12:51 Jung Da-somi of South Korea broke the Asian record of 341 and the Asian Games record of 337 in women's recurve 70m qualification round. Jung shot 342 out of 360 in the 70m.

Jung out-shot  the previous continental best of 341 set by her compatriot Park Sung-hyun, by one point. The previous Asian Games record in 70m qualification round, 337 was set by another South Korean Lee Eun-kyung. In the men's event, meanwhile, Kim Woo-jin of South Korea scored 349 out of 360, setting, you've guessed it, an Asian and Asian Games record. The recurve elimination matches begin tomorrow.

World record icon12:46 Perhaps most significantly, there has been a world record for South Korean's women in the compound archery team event at Gyeyang Asiad Archery Field. They scored a total of 238 out of 240 to beat Kazakhstan, who shot a still impressive 231 - with 240 meaning 24 perfect 10s . The semi-finals will be held this afternoon, with South Korean joining the Philippines, India and Iran. 

12:45 There's been an awful lot else going on this morning away from the medals. 

Shooting, triathlon and rowing medals action

12:40 So just to wrap up the rowing action. China won nine of the 14 events in the end, with four of those that got away being individual events that they did not enter anyone four! Due to limits on the number of entries...

So the only event that actually got away was yesterday's men's lightweight double sculls, where Japan took gold and China were third behind Hong Kong. Still, nine out of 10 isn't too bad. They now have a total of 68 gold medals as well (have a look at our latest medals table.)

Ai Ueda and Juri Ide in the early stages of the run leg of the triathlon...before Ueda broke clear ©Getty Images

Incheon 2014 gold medal12:31 And here is that final result from the Chungju Tangeum Lake Rowing Center. Guess who won it? Yes, China win their ninth gold in the sport as their team - for the record, Cheng Xunman, Yang Dongdong, Zhao Longjie, Feng Jiahui, Ni Xulin, Liu Hang, Yang Zengxin, Li Dongjian, and cox Zhang Shetian - win the men's eight.

They win by over three seconds in a time of 5:46.70. japan take silver and India the bronze. 

12:25 It's been a crazy morning here, with barely a chance to draw for breath for the last couple of hours. And it's not over yet, with the final rowing event of the day the Games underway, in the men's eight, while running target and double trap events are still going on in shooting. 

Incheon 2014 gold medal12:18 And yet another win for China as Wang Min, Shen Xiaoxing, Wang Yuwei and Zhang Xinyue clock 6:40.55 to earn a six second victory in the women's quad sculls. This is the event in which China won their first and so far only Olympic rowing gold medal, at Beijing 2008. A different line-up on that occasion, however. 

South Korea take the silver medal and Vietnam the bronze.

Incheon 2014 gold medal12:12 It's a been a hectic morning with gold medals galore, and a couple to update you on in the rowing. Yu Chenggang, Li Hui, Fan Junjie and Wang Tiexin win the men's lightweight quad sculls title for China, their time of 6:01.15 good enough for a six second win over Hong Kong, with Indonesia taking bronze.

12:08 We can't bring you much in the way of photos just yet from the triathlon, or from the rowing or shooting for that matter, but everyone in the Media Centre has been a little distracted, maybe, by the presence of Taiwanese weightlifting gold medallist Lin Tzu Chi. She is awarded a Tissot watch for her world record breaking exploits in the under 63kg division, and then speaks to the press afterwards.

Lin Tzu-chi of Taiwan following her weightlifting gold ©Getty Images

Japan take 1-2 in women's triathlon

12:05 There were just 13 seconds separating second and fifth place in that triathlon race. Huang Yuting finishing fourth for China, and Hoi Long fifth for Macau. Ueda ran her 10km in 34:48 there, which considering the warm conditions, is very good indeed. In fact, it is faster than the time of 35:49 managed by Great Britain's marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe in her comeback race at the weekend. And she didn't have to do a 1500m swim and a 40km bike ride first!

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