Philippines basketball glory to Chopra: five Asian Games performances

The Asian Games in Hangzhou witnessed some world-class performances over two weeks of action in 40 sports.

AFP Sport picks out five who excelled:

The 27-year-old sprinter took a leap of faith earlier this year and was rewarded in Hangzhou with 200m gold.

She gave up her job as a copywriter to become a full-time runner and it paid off as she won Singapore’s first athletics Asian Games gold in 49 years.

“When I had the chance I jumped right in,” said Pereira, who also took home 100m silver.

“What a season. It’s been so crazy, it means a lot to me. I can’t really describe this.”

No one was prouder than her parents watching from the stands as Pereira draped herself in the Singapore flag and burst into tears.

“I just got emotional,” said dad Clarence. “I’m still in a daze.”

North Korea’s weightlifters shocked their rivals after re-emerging from four years of Covid isolation to top the competition with some record-breaking performances.

They started with a bang on the opening day of weightlifting as Ri Song Gum broke two world records in the women’s 49kg.

Kang Hyong Yong, a little-known 24-year-old, then set a hat-trick of world records on her way to gold in the women’s 55kg class.

North Korea’s lifters won six golds, five silvers and two bronzes.

The haul prompted team manager Jang Song Nam to declare: “We are world leaders now. We wanted to show our strength and we did it.”

They won’t be able to flex their muscles next year at the Paris Olympics — they are not eligible after missing qualifying events.

Untouchable Chinese butterfly specialist Zhang Yufei reinforced her status as a major threat at the Paris Olympics with a dominant showing in the Hangzhou pool and winning the Games MVP award.

The Olympic and world champion won six gold medals, more than anyone else, winning the 50m, 100m and 200m fly, 50m freestyle and helping China surge to two relay titles.

All her times were highly competitive and the 25-year-old said it gave her confidence leading into Paris.

“I hope to present a stable, improved version of myself at every race and that will help me be more confident in myself as I go towards Paris,” she said.

The world and Olympic champion from India conjured up