Japan pockets 11 golds on penultimate day of Universiade
ESSEN, Germany, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Japan rose to first in the medal table of the FISU World University Games by churning out 11 gold medals on Saturday.
The gymnastics competition staged at the Messe Essen Hall was practically a rivalry between Japan and China, as the two teams claimed seven of 10 golds of the day with Japan taking four.
With four golds in the women's team, all-around, vault and individual floor under her belt, Japan's Shoko Miyata thought it was the best way to show what she is capable of.
"This was a perfect performance and a perfect finish to this event. This was the perfect international comeback for me. The best way of showing what I can do. I'm happy about all those medals. It's amazing," she said.
China's Chen Zhilong, who took his first international championship by winning the men's vault event, revealed the secret to his victory was stability.
"Today's performance is close to my daily training. I think 'perfect display' didn't exist in vault, what I can do is to put errors within limits, that's enough."
Elsewhere in athletics, Japan took three golds through the men's half marathon team, women's half marathon team and men's half marathon, while China's Ma Xiuzhen bounced back from her 12th-place finish in the women's 10,000m to win half marathon.
"I felt very good today, I have been adapting to the pace in the leading group from the start to the finish, I failed to step onto the podium two years ago at the Chengdu Universiade, but this time a relaxed mentality helped me," said Ma.
Japan also claimed three golds from tennis, while another one from judo completed its gold sheet on the penultimate day of the Games. Now it leads the medal table with 33 golds, 20 silvers and 24 bronzes, while the United States and China rank second and third respectively.
Brazil completed a marvelous comeback in the men's basketball final. Down by 22 points against the United States after three quarters, Brazil played out a 35-13 fourth quarter to drag the game into overtime where it eventually registered a 94-88 victory.
The U.S. women's basketball team also took silver on Friday after an 81-69 defeat to China.
When asked about the emotional impact of the loss, USA head coach Scott Drew said: "There are a lot of positives, but you know what? You want it to hurt. Because if it doesn't hurt, then you're not competitive. And then if it hurts bad enough, you'll make sure it doesn't happen again. And that's for coaches, players and everybody."
The closing ceremony will be held in Duisburg on Sunday, with only athletics and rowing to be contested on the same day. ■