Eel-loving schoolboy Yuki Kurihara, 11, won an Asian Games gold medal in Japan on Saturday, more weightlifting world records were set and organizers admitted they were “not satisfied” with ticket sales after swaths of empty seats were seen at the athletics.
Kurihara, believed to be the youngest competitor at the Games in Aichi-Nagoya, romped to a 10-2 victory in the esports game Puyo Puyo Champions after going 1-0 down in the final.
“To be completely honest, I felt a bit embarrassed, so I couldn’t really show my expressions or change my face much,” Kurihara said after blowing away a series of opponents, some three times his age.
Kurihara, who says he eats eel to prepare for contests, bowed slightly as he received his gold medal and gave a small wave.
“I’m really happy. The gold medal is really beautiful, shiny and heavy,” he said.
Asian Games organizers admitted ticket sales for some sports had been slow after the main athletics stadium saw a sparse crowd for the second night running.
The Games said fewer than 60% of tickets had been snapped up for eight sports, including football, as well as the showpiece closing ceremony.
“We are not satisfied,” Satoshi Murate, secretary-general of the Games organizing committee, said in response to a question from AFP about spectator numbers.
Some tickets given to sponsors and other stakeholders had not been used, he said.
“Seats have been allocated but some people can’t come. As a result, some competitions do have noticeable empty seats, and we find that regrettable.”
The Games also apologized for transport and accommodation mix-ups that left some athletes stranded for hours.
“Whatever the cause, [the organizing committee] is responsible for providing the service and I sincerely apologize for the mistakes,” Murate said.
Six more world records were set in weightlifting, taking the Games total to 15 in four days, as North Korea’s Ri Won Ju won the men’s 70kg for his country’s fifth gold in eight events so far.
Japan’s Masanori Miyamoto set a new snatch mark of 154kg but had to settle for silver when Ri lifted a world-record 198kg in the clean and jerk for a 349kg total, also a new record.
In the men’s 75kg, Indonesia’s Rahmat Erawan Abdullah won a second consecutive Asian Games gold after setting world records in the clean and jerk (206kg) and total (366kg).
Abdullah won Olympic bronze in Tokyo and Asian Games gold in Hangzhou three years ago, both at 73kg.
North Korea’s Ri Chong Song also won gold in Hangzhou, but at the heavier 81kg bodyweight, and he began Saturday by setting a world record in the snatch of 162kg.
But he failed with his final two lifts in the clean and jerk and was relegated to bronze with a 357kg total, behind Thailand’s Olympic silver medalist Weeraphon Wichuma, who finished on 365kg.
Bahrain’s Salwa Naser set an Asian Games record on a rain-sodden athletics track as she won the women’s 400m gold by a wide margin.
Naser clocked 49.20sec, more than three seconds clear of Iran’s Zahra Zarei Manoujan (53.38). India’s Prachi Choudary completed the podium.
In the men’s 400m, Thailand’s Joshua Atkinson’s late dip gave him gold in a thrilling finish as he edged the UAE’s Sulaiman Abdulrahman.
Atkinson clocked 44.90sec, nine-hundredths of a second ahead of Abdulrahman, with Japan’s Joseph Nakajima taking bronze.
Bahrain’s Nelly Korir broke the Asian Games record to win the women’s 1,500m in 4:04.50.
In the women’s marathon, Bahrain’s Shitaye Habte finally won an Asian Games gold, 16 years after taking silver in the 10,000m at the Guangzhou Games.
The mother of three held off Ciren Cuomu of China and Japan’s Mikuni Yada to cross the line in 2:27.31.
“Maybe it is the time to stop,” Habte said.
“I am 36 years old. But my target for my last competition is the [2027] world championships.
“I have three babies and my second, he said, ‘Mama, don’t run.’ He wants me at home. But now he will be very happy.”
Japan were beaten 75-70 in the women’s basketball, breaking the hearts of the home fans packed into the 17,000-capacity Aichi International Arena in Nagoya.
A second Games competitor also failed a doping test, the International Testing Agency said.
Dayanch Keletliyev of Turkmenistan returned a positive test for the prohibited substance meldonium in an out-of-competition test on September 20.
He lost in the karate kumite round of 32 the next day.
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