GUANGZHOU, China: An “extraordinary” Asian Games Saturday closed after 15 days of thrills and spills that saw China reinforce its sporting credentials and Japan slip further behind. On the last day of action at an Asiad unprecedented in size and scale, China fittingly won the last gold at stake when its women's volleyball team toppled South Korea 3-2 in a thrilling finale. China had won the first gold of the games on Nov. 13 when Yuan Xiaochao finished first in wushu martial arts event. Zhou Chunxiu earlier added yet more gold to its glittering haul by defending her women's marathon title with teammate Zhu Xiaolin taking silver and North Korea's Kim Kum-ok the bronze. The volleyball success pushed the host nation's final gold tally to 199 and its total medals to a whopping 416 – both Asian Games records. Ji Young-jun of South Korea won gold in the men's marathon, finishing in 2:11.11, with Japan's Yukihiro Kitaoka second. That ended China's chances of capturing 200 gold medals at Guangzhou. While China basked in its most successful Asiad ever, its arch-rival Japan performed worse then expected, winning just 48 titles for an overall 216 total medals. It left it well behind South Korea, which claimed 76 gold and 232 medals altogether. While the traditional big three dominated, 36 of the 45 countries and territories taking part managed to climb the podium, with some notable successes. Macau won its first gold medal ever through Jia Rui in the men's wushu and Bangladesh matched that breakthrough, claiming the men's cricket title in an exciting victory over Afghanistan. Oman and Nepal propped up the table with a single bronze each, but there was no joy for minnows like Timor-Leste, Maldives, Turkmenistan, Brunei and Cambodia. Saudi Arabia finished the Games with a total of 13 medals - five gold, three silver and five bronze. There were three world records (two in weightlifting and one in archery) as well as 103 Asian records. In all, 12,600 drug tests were carried out with just two failures – Uzbek wrestler Jakhongir Muminov and Uzbek judoka Shokir Muminov. The Games were overshadowed somewhat by the North Korean artillery attack on South Korea, as well as a diplomatic dispute over the disqualification of a Taiwan taekwondo fighter. There were also early problems with empty stadiums, complaints about the long distances to venues and heavy security, but Olympic Council of Asia president Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad Al Sabah had nothing but praise. “Guangzhou looked to challenge Beijing (Olympics) and I think they did it successfully,” said the Kuwaiti. “Some Olympic committees and OCA colleagues say there is the same level compared to Beijing or even better. Athletes in the village say facilities were even better than Beijing. Guangzhou made a great a success. I would say they were an extraordinary Games.” Organizing committee deputy secretary-general Xu Ruisheng said he too was pleased with the outcome of an event that took seven years to plan and cost billions of dollars, transforming this southern metropolis. “There have been many touching stories every day at all of the competition venues,” he said. “Audiences have shown their enthusiasm and athletes have performed at their best. This is what the Games needed.” Like the widely-acclaimed curtain-raiser, the closing ceremony was held not inside a stadium but on a boat-shaped island in the middle of the Pearl River, which meanders through the heart of China's third-largest city. Later, Al-Sabah took the games torch from Guangzhou officials and handed it to those from the city of Incheon, South Korea, which will host the Asian Games in 2014. The ceremony began with an impressive display of fireworks from the 600-meter Canton Tower and along the Pearl River. The Guangzhou organizers paid tribute to Asia's cultural diversity in a 47-minute opening medley that drew on ethnic song and dance from India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Lebanon and Mongolia. Hong Kong pop stars Alan Tam and Hacken Lee added a contemporary touch by leading a performance of the games theme song, “Triumphant Return.” The show was later turned over to South Korean drummers, dancers with red and white fans and taekwondo performers emerged. Donning a black trench coat, actor-singer Rain followed with a fast number accompanied by identically dressed dancers. The closing ceremony ended with the games flame extinguished as hundreds of athletes watched beneath and fireworks again lit the coolish autumn sky. Seven non-Olympic sports are set to be cut from the 2014 program, reducing the Asian Games total to 35 sports. There were reports that the Incheon organizers did not agree with some of the OCA's suggestions, but Al-Sabah said they had agreed on the sports, which were not announced, and on the schedule of test events ahead of the games.
