Ashgabat 2017 Photo Gallery and Daily Review: Day Nine

2017-09-25

Ashgabad-2017

Ashgabat 2017 Photo Gallery and Daily Review: Day Nine

24 September, 2017 (22:45)

Sunday was day nine of competition at the Ashgabat 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, and the drama, excitement, and magical moments only seem to be increasing as the Games enter the homestretch. With men’s and women’s 3×3 Basketball gold medal games, men’s Futsal semifinals, several record-setting performances in Short Course Swimming and Weightlifting, and the first days of competition in Sambo and Weightlifting all happening on Sunday, there’s plenty to review.

The men’s and women’s gold medal Games capped off an action-packed Ashgabat 2017 3×3 Basketball tournament on Sunday night, with Thailand facing off against Uzbekistan in the ladies’ final game, and Qatar facing Iraq for the men’s gold medal.

The women’s gold medal match was perhaps the finest game of any in the tournament.

A 20—20 tie at full-time forced a first-to-two-points overtime session, which ended when Thailand’s Penphen Yothanan banked in a two-point shot from the outskirts of the court for the gold medal win in heroic fashion.

Though the men’s match lacked the same drama as the women’s, it was a nonetheless impressive game as Qatar thoroughly outclassed Iraq on their way to Ashgabat 3×3 Basketball gold. Erfan Saeed drained a two-point shot with 2:41 seconds for a score of 22—12 to win the game and the gold medal.

The match-ups for the medal games were decided in men’s Futsal semifinal action on Sunday evening, where Afghanistan faced off with Iran, and Japan squared up against Uzbekistan.

Afghanistan came into the contest with Iran fresh off an emotional penalty kick win over the host Turkmen squad. However, they weren’t able to translate that incredible victory into any traction against the powerful Iranians, who were firing from the outset and ended up walking away with an 8—2 win and a spot in the gold medal game.

It was a much tighter affair in the case of Japan v. Uzbekistan, as the two teams remained deadlocked 3—3 after full-time and two overtime sessions, before Uzbekistan was able to finish things off in the penalty kicks.

China continued their dominance in the third day of Short Course Swimming action at the Aquatic Centre, claiming four gold medals on the day and setting three new Games records. Wang Peng in the men’s 50m Butterfly, Sun Meichen in the women’s 200m Freestyle, and the women’s 4×50m Freestyle Relay team were all able to set Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games-best times for the Chinese squad.

China wasn’t the only one setting records, however, as Chinese Taipei claimed a Games-best of their own in the men’s 4×50m Freestyle Medley. Meanwhile, Chinese Taipei’s An Ting-yao took gold in the men’s 200m Freestyle.

At the end of the first day of Sambo competition it was Kazakhstan with the slight edge in the event’s medal count, claiming eight medals, including four golds, across the nine weight classes in action on Sunday. Host nation Turkmenistan ended the day with two golds and seven medals total.

The first day of kickboxing medal competition saw Iran take three medals on the day, putting them just above Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan’s two medals apiece.

The continental record for the women’s −90kg weight class was broken in weightlifting by 18-year-old Eileen Cikamatana (FJI) on her way to earning the first gold medal for one of the nations from Oceania. The Fijian lifted a combined weight of 253kg in the Snatch and Clean and Jerk to earn her Ashgabat 2017 title.

Finally, Vietnam and China were the big winners in Individual Standard Chess competition, with Le Quang Liem of Vietnam taking the men’s competition and China’s Tan Zhongyi taking women’s gold, with her countrywoman Lie Tingjie following up with the silver medal.

The host Turkmenistan remained in place atop the medal standings, finishing the day with a total of 206 medals, 79 of which were gold.