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‘Freestyle’ Park feels Sun’s heat
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SOUTH Korea’s swimming star Park Tae-hwan will stick to freestyle races at the Asian Games as the local hero prepares for three explosive clashes with China’s Olympic champion Sun Yang.
Park, who lost his 2008 Olympic 400 meters title to Sun in London two years ago, had flirted with the notion of individual medleys to his schedule but will focus instead on the 100, 200, 400 and 1,500 freestyle at the Incheon aquatic arena named after him.
The towering Sun, who became the first Chinese man to capture Olympic swimming gold by doing the 400 and 1,500 freestyle double, goes in the 200, 400 and the “iron man” 1,500 event in which he holds the world record.
Opting out of the medleys will keep Park fresher for his battles with Sun, and also avoids the potential embarrassment of losing to Japan’s Kosuke Hagino at home.
Hagino beat double world champion Park twice at the recent Pan Pacific meeting in Australia, and will compete in six events in Incheon — the 200 and 400 free, 100 and 200 backstroke as well as 200 and 400 medlay, in which he will be hot favorite.
Park won triple freestyle gold at the last two Games, in Doha and Guangzhou, but Sun’s return from suspension adds extra spice to their races, particularly after the efforts of the Chinese to stir up their rivalry in the build-up to the competition.
TV commercial
Sun has appeared in a TV commercial in China pocking fun at Park and suggesting the loser treat the winner to a slap-up meal.
China’s Ye Shiwen, who completed the women’s individual medley double at the London Olympics, will look to put last year’s world championship disappointment behind her when she steps to the blocks in her signature races in Incheon, in addition to relay duties.
On the field, the United Arab Emirates slumped to a 0-1 defeat to Jordan yesterday as North Korea booked its place in the second round of the football contest.
The Gulf side, silver medalist in 2010, had hoped to reach the second round after its opening 5-0 win over India, but Jordan took control from the start.
Jordan now needs only a point from its final game in the three-nation group against India to guarantee top spot and an easier second-round tie.
North Korea beat Pakistan 2-0 to record a second straight win that ensures one of the top two places from Group F. North Korea beat China 3-0 on Monday.
Meanwhile, North Korea’s flag was raised yesterday at the athletes’ village.
Normally anyone waving the North’s flag or singing its national anthem in South Korea could face arrest under Seoul’s strict national security law.
But the North Koreans belted out their anthem, “Aegukga”, or Patriotic Song, as officials hoisted the flag at a ceremony in Incheon, along with the banners of China, Singapore, Thailand and Yemen.
North Korea’s presence has been one of the main talking points ahead of the Games, which officially open today.
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