Japan once again rose to the occasion in the pool at the Asian Games on Thursday, with the women making the biggest splash by winning the gold medal in the 4x100 medley relay.
While Ryosuke Irie was beaten in his bid for a fourth straight title, Rikako Ikee danced in the limelight claiming her fifth crown as part of the women's quartet at the Indonesian games -- putting her in elite class with Yoshimi Nishigawa, who achieved the same feat for Japan at the 1970 Bangkok and 1974 Tehran games.
The foursome, comprised of Natsumi Sakai, Satomi Suzuki, Ikee and Tomomi Aoki, came first in a Japan record time of 3 minutes, 54.73 seconds. Runner-up Hong Kong was left in their wake finishing a whopping 8.42 off the pace. Singapore collected the bronze medal.
(Ikee (4th from L) and her teammates show off their gold medals)
The 18-year-old Ikee, who came to Jakarta with a goal of winning eight gold medals in the GBK Aquatic Center pool, could only manage silver the day before in the mixed medley relay.
"I got a big lead to work with and my focus was on holding on to it," Ikee said. "I'm so happy with this after the frustration from yesterday," she said.
Suzuki defended her games title in the women's 50-meter breaststroke in a games record of 30.83 seconds, while teammate Miho Teramura was second. It was Suzuki's second gold, following her 100 breaststroke triumph.
(Satomi Suzuki (R) in action in the women's 50-meter breaststroke)
Shinri Shioura led a 1-2 finish for Japan in the men's 100 free. Shioura, who won 4x100 freestyle gold on Wednesday, touched in 48.71, 0.01 ahead of teammate Katsumi Nakamura. It was the first time Japan won this event in five Asian Games.
Irie, the three-time defending champ, won a silver medal but was in fact blown out of the pool, finishing in 1:55.11, 1.12 behind Xu Jiayu of China, the runner-up to Irie four years ago in Incheon, South Korea. Japan's Keita Sunama was third, 0.43 behind Irie.
"I wasn't really concerned with him (Xu)," said Irie. "I was just focused on swimming my own race. When everything is over, I'll have a chance to break this down, but I have another race and I'm focused on that now."
Japan won the women's team foil gold in fencing, edging China 35-34, for its first title. The average age of the four victorious Japanese fencers is younger than 20.
(Japan's victorious women's fencing team)
"For me the team event is where I excel. I was trying not to yield any points where I didn't have to. I want to contribute to our championships in the future as well," said 18-year-old Sumire Tsuji.
In the men's bowling trios, Japan employed the same lineup that won at the previous games in Incheon, South Korea, and topped the rankings with a score of 4,344 for the gold. Malaysia had 4,235 while Singapore finished with 4,226, for silver and bronze, respectively.
"We won at the last Asian Games, so we were on a mission to win this time too. The three of us encouraged each other by using that positive pressure to our advantage," said Shogo Wada.
In the men's gymnastics rings, Shogo Nonomura won the silver.
Japan won two bronze medals in rowing. Ryuta Arakawa was third in men's single sculls, finishing nearly 10 seconds behind two-time Asian Games double sculls champion Zhang Liang of China. In men's pairs, Yoshihiro Otsuka and Yuta Takano crossed more than six seconds off the pace.
Miyu Yamada took a Taekwondo bronze in the women's 49 kg.
Kaito Uesugi and Sho Shimabukuro settled for a bronze in men's tennis doubles, losing their semifinal against India's Divij Sharan and Rohan Manchanda Bopanna 4-6, 6-3, 10-8.
Japan's softball team blanked China 5-0 in the semifinals to move one victory away from clinching its fifth consecutive Asian Games title. It will face Taiwan, which beat the Philippines 6-3, in Friday's final.
