On the Scene -- Cricket's First-Ever Medals; Asian Games Transport

(ATR) Cricket’s first-ever Asian Games medals are up for grabs Friday in Guangzhou.

Either Pakistan or Bangladesh will win women’s gold. China and Japan will battle for bronze.

Meanwhile, synchronized swimming will kick off in the Foshan Aquatic Center, while day four of boxing gets underway in the nearby Gymnasium.

These may be the Guangzhou Games but Foshan, home to 1.1 million people, is just one of a number of cities hosting events to ensure the spectacle reaches the whole of Guangdong Province.

China's Gold Tally Hits Triple Digits

Foshan’s most famous son, Bruce Lee, would have been proud of the way Rey Saludar from the Philippines laid out his opponent Thursday in the opening 52kg bout of the day.

China certainly punched its weight on the rowing lake, and the host’s gold medal haul reached three figures when Huang Wenyi and Pan Feihong triumphed in the lightweight women’s double skulls, one of six rowing golds collected on the first finals day.

China closed the day with 109 gold medals and is on target to beat its previous record haul of 183 golds in Beijing 20 years ago. South Korea sits in second with 37 gold. Japan has 21, good enough for third.

In Zengcheng, on a different stretch of water, Indonesia’s men won the first-ever gold medal in Dragon Boat Racing in the 1000m event and Indonesia’s first gold of the 2010 Games.

China’s men could only finish fourth, but there was joy for the home fans when the women took gold in their event. Indonesia settled for silver.

Thursday saw three other countries win gold for the first time in Guangzhou. Singapore struck gold in the pool as Tao Li powered home in the women’s 50m butterfly, going one better than her silver in the 100m on the opening day of competition.

Jordan’s Nabil Hassan was the champion in the men’s under 80kg Taekwondo, the sport which also provided Thailand its first gold medal, won by Sarita Phongsri in the under 53kg competition.

Games Showcase Public Transport Improvements

The jewel in the crown of Guangzhou’s revamped infrastructure is China’s first intercity metro link, the Guangfo line that opened two weeks before the start of these 16th Asian Games.

"If it was not for the Asian Games, many people in Foshan think this line would not exist," explained Kuang Jianwen, a student from Foshan studying in Guangzhou. "It has cut the travel time between the two cities almost in half and is much more convenient.

"I know many people are using the metro to go to Guangzhou to watch the Games. It is very efficient and we have been excited about it opening."

It costs less than 50 cents and takes only half an hour to travel from downtown Guangzhou to the heart of Foshan, around 19 miles. Phase two of the line is slated for completion by 2013 with the total cost around $2.25 billion.

English teacher Joe Davies, 22, used the line for the first time Thursday and said: "It is impressive, very convenient and easy to use. The metro is a great way to get to many Asian Games events."

Tang Ruping, GAGOC’s director of games services, highlighted that all 53 competition and training venues are accessible via public transport. "They are generally the ones where the tickets cost most money on Taobao, but tickets to see Liu Xiang are the most expensive."

ATR coverage of the Guangzhou Asian Games

is Proudly Presented by PyeongChang 2018

With reporting from Matt Horn in Guangzhou.

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