GUANGZHOU, China: Mohammed Othman Shaween came from behind to defend his title in the men's 1,500 meters at the Asian Games Tuesday, while a strong finish by Maryam Yusuf Jamal brought her the women's gold with room to spare. Shaween took over on the last lap from Saudi Arabia teammate Emad Hamed Noor, who led for the first three laps then faded at the end, and finished at 3 minutes, 36.49 seconds. Finishing second was Sajad Moradi of Iran at 3:37.09. The bronze went to Belal Mansoor Belal Ali of Bahrain at 3:38.39. In the women's race, Ethiopian-born Jamal, the 2009 world champion, and Bahrain teammate Mimi Belete Gebregiorges moved to the front of the pack on the final lap. Jamal sprinted on to win in 4 minutes, 8.22 seconds. Vietnam's Thanh Hang Truong overcame Gebregiorges in the final 50 meters to claim the silver, at 4:09.58. Jamal said she planned to bid for a golden double, as she did at the last Games in Doha four years ago. The dominant table-topper China which equalled its final tally of 165 from Doha in 2006 with four more days of action still to go. South Korea is next up on 64 while Japan has 34. All but 11 of the 45 countries and territories taking part have now managed to climb the podium. Somdev Devvarman and Peng Shuai delivered tennis gold to India and China. Another Baharini, Kenyan-born Tareq Mubarak Taher, defended his 3,000m steeplechase title while China's Li Yanfeng won the women's discus and South Korea's Jung Soon-Ok was crowned women's long jump champion. Qatar's Mutaz Barshim cleared 2.27 meters to take the men's high jump title. Yuliya Tarasova of Uzbekistan, who also took bronze in the long jump, won the women's heptathlon with 5,783 points. It was India's Devvarman who took top honors at the Aoti Tennis Center, upsetting Uzbek ATP stalwart Denis Istomin 6-1, 6-2 in the men's tennis final. Peng, who had linked up with Li Na to win the women's team event, claimed a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Uzbekistan's Akgul Amanmuradova in front of a packed house. Taiwan now has 12 titles after claiming three roller sport gold while cyclist Hsiao Mei-yu won the 100 km women's individual road race. Meanwhile, China's diving juggernaut picked up speed with Olympic gold medallist Chen Ruolin and Wang Hao too good in the women's synchronized 10-meter platform event. The pairing of Qin Kai and Luo Yutong then kept China on track for a clean-sweep by winning the men's synchronized 3m springboard. At the University Town Main Stadiumn, defending champions Japan beat Hong Kong 28-21 to win the men's rugby gold, while Kazakhstan shocked favorites China to claim the inaugural women's title. The Japanese found more success on the football field with goals from Kota Mizunuma and Kensuke Nagai helping them beat four-time champion Iran to make the final where it will meet United Arab Emirates. The UAE came through its match with South Korea thanks to a sensational last-gasp extra-time winner by Ahmed Al Abry. Elsewhere, Bangladesh's cricket team cruised to victory over Malaysia by 70 runs, joining Pakistan in the semifinals.
