Gold glory for Koreans at Asian Games

Hosts Kazakhstan continued their winning run at the Asian Winter Games on Friday, earning five more gold medals.The performance allowed the Kazakhs to gain an impressive lead in the Games medal table with 23 gold medals and 56 overall, while second-placed South Korea has so far clinched 11 gold medals and 30 overall. Japan sit third with nine golds.Jung Donghyun of South Korea grabbed the only gold medal for his team on Friday winning the men's alpine skiing super-combined.

Hosts Kazakhstan underlined their supremacy on the closing day of the Asian Winter Games on Sunday by winning four more gold medals to finish top of the medals table.Kazakhstan were comfortably the most successful country at the event, having collected 32 gold medals and 70 overall.Second-placed Japan finished with 13 golds and 54 overall, while South Korea were third after also picking up 13 gold medals.

Hosts' Kazakhstan dominated the day's action at the Asian Winter Games on Thursday adding four gold medals to their impressive collection to stay on top with 17 golds and 46 medals overall.South Korea failed to add to their gold haul, but remain in second place with 10 gold and 24 medals overall.Meanwhile, Japan stayed in the race for the lead in the medal table with their skiers winning two gold medals to lift their country into third position with eight golds.

South Korean superstar Park Tae-Hwan crushed China's Zhang Lin in an Olympic swimming re-match Tuesday as Li Na led the hosts to the women's team tennis gold and Taiwan clinched the men's title.While Park controlled his 400m freestyle race, it was China who again dominated the medals with their devastating form bringing them 70 gold so far to South Korea's 21 and Japan's 15.A day after fading Japanese Olympic champion Kosuke Kitajima flopped in the pool, Park emphatically won his second gold in Guangzhou having already collected the 200m freestyle title.

South Korean star Park Tae-Hwan blitzed the field to collect his third gold medal in the Asian Games pool on Wednesday as a conspiracy row rumbled at the taekwondo.Despite Park's fireworks, China again dominated Day 5 to extend their lead at the top of the medals table to 97 gold, ahead of South Korea on 29 and Japan on 17, with North Korea and Iran next best on five.But it was the 21-year-old Park's night, sprinting to victory in the 100 metres freestyle after taking gold in the 200m and 400m events.

Park Tae-Hwan guns for his third gold medal in the Asian Games pool as double Olympic champion weightlifter Liu Chunhong attempts to smash her own world record.Going into Day 5, China on Wednesday extended their lead at the top of the medals table and now have 79 gold to South Korea's 22 and Japan's 15, with North Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong all next best on three.The hosts tasted more success on the cycling track with Zhang Lei clinching the men's sprint title and Guo Shuang taking the women's gold.

The Asian Winter Games open in Kazakhstan on Sunday with the Central Asian state competing against the likes of China, Japan and South Korea for winter glory as it hosts its biggest ever sporting event.The best athletes from 27 Asian countries are expected at the seventh edition of the games, with world-class competition awaited in particular in the skating disciplines.More than 1,100 competitors will contest 65 titles in 11 categories, with the events staged in the country's two biggest cities -- Almaty and Astana -- between January 30 and February 6.

The Asian Games officially open with a glitzy gala ceremony on Friday, culminating years of planning for a massive event that is set to reinforce China's regional sporting dominance.The extravagenza heralds the most ambitious Asiad so far with more than 14,000 athletes and officials from 45 countries and territories angling for gold in 42 sports.The Games run until November 27, with hosts China heavily favoured to top the medal table, with South Korea and Japan battling for second place.