The World Games: Germany shows dominance in canoe polo; China sweeps speed climbing relay
Chengdu (China), Aug 17 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) Germany enjoyed a dominant day at the canoe polo, while hosts China made a clean sweep of speed climbing relay gold medals and also bagged their first gold in roller sports on another action-packed Day 10 at the World Games here on Saturday.
Germany underlined its dominance in canoe polo by securing both the men’s and women’s gold medals on offer on Saturday. Germany faced a strong defensive effort from New Zealand early in the women’s final. With patience, Germany broke the deadlock to take a 1-0 lead.
After halftime, Germany maintained control, adding three more goals to seal a 4-0 victory, reports Xinhua.
In the men’s final, Germany capitalised on two fast-break opportunities in the opening period to establish a 2-0 lead. The early cushion proved decisive, as they went on to defeat Italy 3-1 to claim the other gold medal.
“We have a really good German league, which is the strongest league in the world. So every player, no matter male or female, wants to play in this league. So we have all the best national team players from all European countries joining this well-paid league, which makes the league so excellent,” said Germany team manager Lukas Enzo Richter.
Host China capped the climbing competition at the World Games on Saturday by sweeping the men’s and women’s speed relay finals, finishing the event with five of the six gold medals on offer.
The relay, a new format making its debut at a major international event, pairs two athletes on a team. The second climber starts only after the first hits the timing pad at the top, and the combined time determines the final result. The competition in Chengdu also produced the first men’s and women’s world records in the discipline.
The men’s field featured some of the sport’s biggest names. American Samuel Watson, the individual world record holder, and teammate Zachary Hammer faced China’s Chu Shouhong and Long Jianguo – both fresh off individual golds – in the semifinals. Watson, still nursing a shoulder injury, delivered a clean run, but Hammer slipped, sending the Chinese duo to the final.
There, the Chinese duo met another U.S. pair, 18-year-old Michael Hom and 17-year-old Logan Schlecht. Both teams went error-free, but Chu and Long prevailed in 10.26 seconds, each claiming a second gold medal of the Games.
Watson and Hammer recovered to beat Indonesia’s Veddriq Leonardo and Alfian Muhammad Fajri for bronze, setting a world record of 10.06 seconds.
Meanwhile, in roller sports, Zhang Hao secured China’s first gold medal as the inline freestyle skating competitions kicked off on Saturday. In an all-Chinese men’s speed slalom final, Zhang beat Fu Yu 2-0 to claim the victory, while Reza Lesani of Iran defeated compatriot Amirmohammad Savari Jamalouei to take the bronze.
“I’m very excited and happy to be able to show my normal performance,” said Chengdu local Zhang, adding that he felt nervous competing at home.
Chinese Taipei’s Liu Chiao-Hsi clinched gold in the women’s speed slalom, while China’s Zhu Siyi and Wen Jingjing finished second and third. “This is the first time I have taken part in an international competition since I turned 18, and I have tried my best,” said Zhu, a silver medalist at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, adding that she would continue to work on her power and stability.
In the speed slalom, athletes must accelerate within a 12-meter distance and then sprint around 20 cones, spaced at 80 centimetres apart. A penalty of 0.2 seconds is incurred for knocking down any cone or missing any interval between the cones.
Roller sports at the Chengdu World Games feature three disciplines – speed skating (road and track), inline freestyle, and inline hockey. Two more freestyle skating golds will be awarded on Sunday.
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