Teen pips 43-year-old gymnast to Asian Games gold

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JAKARTA, Aug 23, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – South Korea’s Yeo Seo-jeong wept as she
vaulted her way to victory at the Asian Games on Thursday in a tense final
that saw her snatch gold from 43-year-old Oksana Chusovitina in the dying
moments.

The 16-year-old’s win was the second of the day for Korea, stopping
gymnastics giants China in their tracks after they claimed all four golds on
the first three days of the competition.

It came after Kim Han-sol secured gold in the men’s floor — the opening
apparatus final — with a swaggering routine, much to the delight of the
vocal pack of South Korean fans madly waving flags and whooping.

Compatriot Yeo said she was happy with her performance in the women’s vault
but was focused on Tokyo 2020, where she is intent on winning a gold to
dedicate to her father Yeo Hong-chul.

The older Yeo won a silver medal on vault at the 1996 Olympic Games in
Atlanta, but never secured an Olympic gold.

“I want to go there and win gold for him,” she said after securing the top
spot with 14.387.

Runner-up Chusovitina, from Uzbekistan and the oldest female gymnast in the
competition by far, said that “silver was like getting gold”.

She stepped on to the podium with a score of 14.287, pushing North Korea’s
Pyon Rye Yong into the bronze medal position with 13.875.

The men’s floor final was also full of drama as Taiwan’s Tang Chia-Hung,
who had led from the outset, was pipped by the second-last gymnast to
perform, 22-year-old Kim.

The Korean’s 14.675 pushed Tang into silver medal position with 14.425.

However, China did not leave empty-handed after Lin Chaopan scooped the
bronze with a score of 14.225, his third medal in Jakarta and China’s 3,000th
across all editions of the Asian Games.

Japan’s new superstar Kakeru Tanigawa finished way down in eighth place —
a disappointing result after he hit the headlines as Japan’s new national
champion earlier this year.

In the men’s pommel horse, Taiwan’s Lee Chih-Kai sneaked into first place
ahead of China’s Zou Jingyuan and Sun Wei, finishing second and third
respectively.

But by the time of the women’s uneven bars, the penultimate apparatus of
the night, China had found their winning form once again.

As the opening gymnast of the event, Liu Tingting spun herself into a
commanding lead and stayed there, while Luo Huan secured silver. Both were
members of the Chinese squad that bagged gold in the team event.

In the men’s rings, a perfect landing from Japan’s Shogo Nonomura could not
stop China’s Deng Shudi, who grabbed the final gold of the night.