ALL THE NEWS, ACTION AND REACTION
 
By Duncan Mackay and Nick Butler in Incheon
Click refresh for latest updates. All times stated are South Korean

Goodnight! We are off to brush up on our bowling knowledge...

22:00
Tomorrow there are even more gold medals to be won, 27 to be precise, including badminton and sepaktakraw for the first time at these Games. Bowling will also make its debut in the Asian Games, with a total of 12 gold medals to be awarded eventually, starting tomorrow with the men's singles. 

"I look forward to this event, to sharing our sport and our new look with the world at the Asian Games," said Kevin Dornberger, President of World Bowling, a sport which definitely has Olympic ambitions. We are intrigued to find out what kind of impact it will make here. 

We will be bringing you all that, along with news of all the other gold medals, reaction and analysis, along with plenty of interesting trivia. I can also predict confidently that there will be a lot about women's cricket. 

Until then, goodnight!

South Korea retain lead over rivals China but Japan shooting up the table

21:50
Hagino's victory started an amazing Japanese gold rush as they won six medals this evening to surge up the overall table. But South Korea remain on top overall, having won 12 medals, the same as great rivals China. They retain their lead, though, by virtue of one more silver medal - the one claimed by Park, presumably, although that is probably not of much consolation.

South Korea continue to lead the overall medals table at Incheon 2014 at the end of day two ©ITG 

21:43
The start of the swimming today gave the event a real major Games feel, although there was crushing disappointment for South Korean star Park Tae-hwan when he was denied a history-making third consecutive gold medal in the 200m freestyle, having to settle for silver in an arena named after him, behind unheralded Japanese Kosuke Hagino. How disappointing must that be?

21:40
That concludes all the medal events for day two of these Incheon 2014 Asian Games. There's still a bit of badminton going on but the evening is beginning to wind down, including in the Main Press Centre where the insidethegames supply of coffee has been cut-off due to the kiosk closing unexpectedly early.

Two judo titles for South Korea to conclude day two medals action


Incheon 2014 gold medal21:30 Kim Seongyeon then wins the other South Korean gold in the final event of the evening, the women's under 70kg competition, defeating Chizuru Arai of Japan in the final. Bronze medals are taken by Fei Chen of China and Naranjargal Tsend Ayush of Mongolia.

Incheon 2014 gold medal21:26 Heartbreak for Lebanon as Kim Jaebum snatches the men's under 81kg gold in the final stages by virtue of Nacif Elias, who still becomes the first ever Asian Games medal winner from Lebanon, losing by a shido penalty.  

Keita Nagashima of Japan and Dagvasuren Nyamsuren of Mongolia take the bronze medals. 

21:23 Results to bring you from the final two judo events, which will be the final two gold medals of Incheon 2014, and, like in fencing, there are two more South Korean victories to report...

South Korea continue domination on the piste

Kim Jung-Hwan celebrates sabre fencing gold ©AFP/Getty Images




Incheon 2014 gold medal21:15
South Korea, meanwhile, haven't lost a fencing event yet at here. In another all-host nation final, Kim Junghwan beats Gu Bongil 15-13 in a thrilling final at the Goyang Gymnasium.

The two bronze medals are won by Lam Hin Chung of Hong Kong and Sun Wei of China. 

Two world records for latest North Korean champion


Incheon 2014 gold medal21:09 And that means it was a gold medal for the North Korean, with Kim Unguk, the London 2012 Olympic champion, winning by 11kg from Chen Lijun of China. Erik Yuli Irawan of Indonesia took bronze.

North Korean journalists better get faxing...

Bronze medal winner Erik Yuli Irawan's father, incidentally, worked as a paddle rickshaw driver and his mother a vegetable trader. As a boy he used to work herding goats, which he says taught him how to be responsible. "If I lost a goat, I had to pay for it," he admitted. "We were poor. We had to be careful doing our job."

Could he still be around to compete at four years time in Jakarta, the city he grew up herding goats in, I wonder?

World record icon21:05 Speaking of North Korea, there's some weightlifting success to report, and that means the obligatory gold medal icon. Kim Unguk completed all three of his clean and jerk attempts, maxing out at 178kg for an overall world record of 332kg, to supplement his snatch world record earlier (see 20:01).

Can you fax me that, please? North Korea media relying on 20th century technology

20:59 The fax machine, remember them? Well, it's making a comeback here in quite possibly the most technologically advanced country in the world. Sort of.

North Korean reporters covering the Games are being forced to rely on technology which largely died out in the 1990s with the advent of the internet. It is because South Korea's National Security Law (NSL), introduced in 1948, makes it illegal to access North Korean websites, meaning journalists are unable to use the internet to file their stories.

"It's common knowledge that North Korean websites are not accessible in the South," an official told The Korea Times. "We agreed on the fax machine as the system for the North Korean reporters to deliver their articles."

20:54 It seems a long time ago now, but one of the earlier of the six gold medals won by Japan this evening came in gymnastics, where the team proved two strong for South Korea and Olympic champion China, who finished second and third respectively. 

Shotaro Shirai helping the Japanese team to gymnastics gold ©AFP/Getty Images

China take final swimming gold of day two

Incheon 2014 gold medal20:49 We got a little distracted, but the final swimming event of the evening has finished. And it's China who claim the women's 4x100m freestyle relay spoils. Ye Shiwen, Shen Duo, Zhang Yufei and Tang Yi stopping the clock at 3:37.25 to push Japan and Hong Kong into the minor medal positions. 

That brings to an end a fantastic evening of swimming action, with China and Japan ending with three gold medals apiece. The highlight was the first race, of course, where Kosuke Hagino shocked his more illustrious rivals to win the 200m free, but some strong performances across the board.

It would however, be nice to see a swimming from somewhere else win an event tomorrow. Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea the only other nations to win medals in the pool. This competition is different from the Commonwealth Games swimming event, when Australia and England were the two strongest nations, but many others managed medals, and golden ones. . 

Gold medals for South Korea in fencing and judo

Incheon 2014 gold medal20:43 A good few minutes for South Korea, in fact, as Jeon Heesook beats Le Huilin of China to take the first fencing title of the evening, in the women's foil. There have been China v South Korea clashes left, right and centre today, and South Korea haven't won too many of them, but a great result there, 15-6 the fairly comprehensive scoreline.

Lin Po Heung of Hong Kong and Jeon Heesook of South Korea take the two bronze medals, which go to the two losing semi-finals rather than via the more complex repechage system used in judo.

Incheon 2014 gold medal20:37 And it is good news for the host nation as Joung Dawoon defeats Jang Junxia of China with an overtime yuko to end a fairly passive contest. 

Marian Urdabayeva of Kazakhstan and Kana Abe of Japan take the two bronze medals.

20:34 The final swimming race of the night, the women's 4x100m freestyle relay, is underway. Will it be another Japanese victory, I wonder? But before we focus on that, there is some more judo to report...

Reaction to the swimming action

Ryosuke Irie celebrates his 100m backstroke title ©AFP/Getty Images

Quote marks"He did well for the first half, but the second half could have been better. I think it was because the press gave him too much pressure since last month" - Chinese swimming coach Zhang Yadong after Sun Yang won only a silver medal in the 200m freestyle 

I hope Queen's Under Pressure is getting a good airing out at the Munhak Park Tae-hwan Aquatics Center...

Two more gold medals for Japan - six for the evening

Incheon 2014 gold medal20:28 And it's a sixth Japanese gold of the evening as Daiya Seto leads home a Japanese 1-2 in the men's 200m butterfly. Kenta Hirai is second for Japan and third place goes to Joseph Isaac Schooling of Singapore.

Editor Duncan Mackay (see 19:54) should definitely be firing off that job application. Incidentally, Dr Steve Peters, who he referred to, is an English sports psychiatrist who played a key role in the success of the British cycling team, and figures therein such as Victoria Pendleton, Sir Chris Hoy and Bradley Wiggins, as they dominated on the track at Beijing 2008 and London 2012. 

Incheon 2014 gold medal20:22 Hiroyuki Akimoto of Japan has won a second Japanese judo gold tonight. A much narrower victory the the first, he wins by virtue of two shidos' from Odbayar Ganbaatar of Mongolia in the men's under 73kg division. Akimoto is 2010 world champion but hasn't competed in the international stage too much in recent years so a fine fightback there. 

The two bronze medals went to Hong Kukhyon of North Korea and Bang Guiman of South Korea. A bronze medal playoff would have been interesting there...

Incheon 2014 gold medal20:15 Shi Jinglin sets an Asian Games record of 1:06.67 to win the women's 100m breaststroke for China. Kanako Watanabe of Japan is second and bronze goes to Chen Lijun of China. 

20:11 A break in the swimming - so time for a photo of our three Incheon 2014 mascots, in poster form I think with a hostess - but there are three more finals to come. 

A first mascot photo of the day ©AFP/Getty Images

If it's goals you want, Asian Games women's football is place to be

20:08 The Maldives women's football will be glad that they have completed their matches in Group A, suffering a 13-0 defeat against hosts South Korea in their last appearance. It followed earlier 15-0 and 10-0 thrashings at the hands of India and Thailand respectively. It meant that the Maldives finished with a goal difference of minus 38.

Perhaps, even more remarkably, India managed to finish their campaign in third spot behind South Korea and Thailand with a goal difference of minus five despite that 15-0 win in their first match. They followed that up with consecutive 10-0 losses to their higher-ranked opponents.

Earlier in the tournament, Thailand had received a $3,100 bonus from their Football Association after losing 5-0 to South Korea. "The Association had planned to give the team 200,000 Thai baht ($6,200/£3,800/€4,800) if they won the match, but, for the players' efforts, we decided to hand them 100,000 as consolation," said Thailand's FA President Worawi Makudi. Funny old game, women's football.

North Korea en course for another weightlifting gold?

World record icon20:01 Meanwhile, over at the Moonlight Festival Garden Weightlifting Venue, another weightlifting event, another world record, as North Korea's Kim Unguk snatches a magnificent 154kg. 

He leads by 11kg from Han Myeongmok of South Korea and Chen Lijun of China. The clean and jerk competition is still to come however, so the gold medal is not won just yet...

Japanese success on day two continues as judo medal action begins

19:54 Precisely one hour ago from now, editor Duncan Mackay turned to me and said it has been a disappointing Games for Japan so far and they really need to get their act together. Since then, they have won four gold medals. 

"I should contact the Japanese Sports Council and send my CV immediately. I can be the Steve Peters of Japanese sport," he quips.

Incheon 2014 gold medal19:48 Make that four gold medals for Japan! The first judo final of the evening has begun, or rather, finished, as Anzu Yamamoto strikes an ippon to defeat Kim Jandi of South Korea after one minute and 43 seconds in their under 57kg final. 

The two bronze medals in that event went to Ri Hyosun of North Korea and Sumiya Dorjsuren of Mongolia.

Three gold medals in 40 minutes for Japan, in swimming, gymnastics and swimming

Quote marks"There has been so much talk about winning the third straight Asian Games gold here. Honestly, I felt some weight on my shoulders. I gave my all, but I am walking away disappointed. I have more races remaining and I will try to put on good performances" - South Korea's Park Tae-hwan on the pressure he faced competing in the Munhak Park Tae-hwan Aquatics Center as he had to settle for a bronze medal in the 200m freestyle‏.

Incheon 2014 gold medal19:40 What a few minutes for Japan. They've won another! Ryosuke Irie breaks the Asian Games record to win the 100m backstroke final in 52.34. Xu Jiayu of China is second and, remarkably the 200m freestyle winner Kosuke Hagino takes third place!

An amazing turnaround and Japan are consequently shooting up the medals table. 

Kosuke Hagino is awarded the 200m freestyle gold ©AFP/Getty Images

Japan vault, flip and pommel to men's team gymnastics title

19:33 If China had performed alongside Japan and South Korea in the final sub division, would they have done better, I wonder?

Incheon 2014 gold medal19:26 We will return to the pool in a sec, but the Japanese evening is getting better and better. They have won the men's team gymnastics title ahead. Their final score of 355.475 is enough to defeat South Korea, while China have to settle for the bronze medal.

It was a weakened Chinese team so don't read too much into that. They are still the reigning Olympic champions, although it wasn't the strongest Japanese squad either. 

Hagino shocks illustrious rivals to take 200m freestyle glory as pool action begins

Nick Butler"The Japanese National Anthem is playing at the Munhak Park Tae-hwan Aquatics Center as Kosuke Hagino is crowned champion. It is not the result the crowd wanted but the atmosphere looks to be fantastic in the stadium named after the bronze medal winner. And for the first time at these Games, there appears to be a huge social media response as well. I am slightly kicking myself, as when my editor Duncan Mackay predicted Sun Yang to win, I suddenly thought Hagino was going to take it, but didn't say anything, so I don't think that counts as a prediction. The race reminded me of sitting on a hotel bed in Alaska in 2004, on holiday aged 13, watching the 'Race of the Century' as Ian Thorpe took on bitter rival Pieter van den Hoogenband of The Netherlands and Michael Phelps in the 200m final at Athens 2004. Thorpe won there in equally thrilling fashion. This one might not be the 'Race of the Century' but it was certainly the race of the Asian Games so far..." - Reporter Nick Butler on the 200m freestyle final...

South Korean supporters, who will now be disappointed, in the swimming ©AFP/Getty Images
Incheon 2014 gold medal19:15 It is swift vengeance for China as Zhang Yuhan wins the women's 400m freestyle title. She overhauls a tiring team mate Bi Yirong in the final 50m to win in a time of 4:07.67.

The bronze medal, meanwhile, is taken by Chihiro Igarashi of Japan. 

19:11 We're not messing around here. The women's 400m freestyle has already begun, and China will be gunning for revenge here..,

Incheon 2014 gold medal19:06 Kosuke Hagino of Japan wins the 200m freestyle gold medal! Quite simply, where did he come from? What a finish by Hagino, who wins in 1:45.23 and by five hundredths from Sun Yang of China, with Park Tae-hwan having to be content with silver. 

Hagino swan the final 50m in 26.00. That is rapid.

19:05 But Park is coming back. This race is living up to its billing and then some. Neck and neck with 40m to go. And here comes Hagino!!! Three of them, neck and neck, who will get the touch?

19:03 For the first time, there are ripples of excitement in the Media Centre here as the swimmers set off. And it's Sun of China, the London 2012 400m and 1,500m freestyle champion, who leads coming up to the halfway point.

Park Taehwan arriving for the 200m freestyle final ©AFP/Getty Images

19:01 Home hope Park Tae-hwan has received a bit of criticism for his sluggish heat performance this morning. But I wouldn't read too much into that. He will defend his title in this event for a third time against bitter rival Sun Yang of China and Kosuke Hagino of Japan. At the Guangzhou 2010, Park beat son, and, two years later at the London Olympics, they both clocked 1:44.93 and shared silver behind Yannick Agnel of France.

Meanwhile, Hagino, who is originally an individual medley specialist, has shifted over to freestyle and backstroke events as well. He set a new record for the men's freestyle event at the Japanese Championships in April, and, more recently at the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships, he came in second after Thomas Fraser-Holmes of Australia, to become the fastest Asian at the event.

Who will win tonight?

18:57 And first up in the pool it is the big one, the men's 200m freestyle, the most eagerly anticipated event of the Games so far!

18:53 We will keep you abreast of everything going on in the gymnastics. But a big evening of medals action is about to begin, and right on cue, our journalistic colleague from Hong Kong, recovered now from the keirin success earlier, switches over our television channel in the Media Centre to the swimming. Six finals are coming up...

18:46 A potential blow for Japan in the gymnastics as their squad only manage the sixth best performance so far on the horizontal bar. But then again, China only managed the fourth best score, with North Korea, South Korea and Vietnam posting the best three. 

Reaction to a Thai cricketing victory over Nepal

Quote marks"We should just push ourselves a bit harder when batting, just play like good cricket all round, just throw balls in the right areas, take the catches, take the wickets, when we go bat just look for the runs" - Nattaya Boochatham, captain of the Thailand women's cricket team, following her side's six-wicket win over Nepal, sounding like she was born to the sport.

 If you are getting the impression, that insidethegames is enjoying the women's cricket at these Asian Games, you would be right!

18:39 As action this evening heats up, a reminder of probably the most exciting moment so far on day two (see 17:34), when Hsu Shu Ching of Taiwan set a new overall world record to claim the under 53kg title. Here she is in full flow...

One other thing that slightly slipped my notice was that Hsu Shu Ching was the London 2012 Olympic silver medal winner and Zulfiya Chinshanlo of Kazakhstan, who set a clean and jerk world record but had to settle for silver here, the London 2012 Olympic champion.

A world record breaking weightlifting victory for Hsu Shu Ching ©AFP/Getty Images

Team pursuit title for China on day two evening

Incheon 2014 gold medal18:31 And China hold on to win gold! That's a big result in the battle between the two Incheon 2014 powerhouses so far. A pretty comfortable victory in the end as well, the Chinese stopping the clock at 4:07.936 in comparison with South Korea's time of 4:12.269.

18:29 China have taken the lead in the team pursuit final...

18:27 The gymnastics is now out of China's hands but the team pursuit cycling is definitely not. Their team Shi Tao, Yuan Zhong, Qin Chenlu, Liu Hao are out on the track here, with a good atmosphere getting going at the open air Incheon International Velodrome. They are up against three Park's and an Im for South Korea: Im Jaeyeon, Park Sanghoon, Park Seonho and Park Keonwoo. A walk (or ride) in the park then for China? I feel not...

Bronze. incidentally, has already been claimed by Japan, who got the better of Kazakhstan. 

18:23 A quick gymnastics update with Japan positing the highest team score on the pommel horse, floor and rings so far. They place second behind South Korea on the vault, but the host nation have been far less successful elsewhere. China, remember, hold the overall lead as they have already finished their routines (see 16:44) But the way the Japanese are going so far, I feel they are headed for gold...

Just the parallel bars and horizontal bar left.

Thailand giantkillers against Japan in women's volleyball

Thai flag18:18 There has been a major upset in the women's volleyball where six-time Olympic medallists Japan, currently ranked third in the world, have been beaten by Thailand, ranked 100th, in Group A

The Japanese, the London 2012 bronze medallists, were beaten 3-1 at the Songnim Gymnasium, despite taking the opening set. "I feel really happy to win today," Thailand's captain Apinyapong said. "We trained for a long time for a match against Japan because we know they are really fast in defence and they are really tall. It was not easy to defeat Japan, but we did it."

Star of the show for Thailand was Onuma Sittirak, who scored 32 points, including 28 successful strong spikes.

Team pursuit action

18:10 Back to the cycling and it is the team pursuit coming up now. First we have the battle for seventh place, then for fifth, then for bronze and then for gold, where it will be, as it was in the two team sprint races yesterday, China versus South Korea.

A gold medal chance for Lebanon?

Lebanon flag18:01 Of those, the men's under 81kg final looks the most exciting. World number 59 Nacif Elias performing brilliantly to make the final where he will face the Kim Jaebum, the world number, 14.

Lebanon first competed at the Asian Games in 1978 but didn't win a medal until Busan 2002. There they won their first gold as well, courtesy of heavyweight bodybuilder Mohammed Anouti, while four years later, Jean Claude Rabbath took the high jump title in Doha. In Guangzhou they managed a silver and two bronze so this would be a third gold. They have never won an Asian Games judo medal. 

17:55 It will be a busy night tonight in the Dowon Gymnasium with five judo finals taking place. The biggest rivalry here so far has been between Mongolia and Japan. The two nations will clash again tonight with Mongolia's Odbayar Ganbaatar facing Hiroyuki Akimoto of Japan in the men's under 73kg final.

The host nation will be represented in all of the other four finals today, which get underway in an hour or so. The finals will consist of: South Korea versus Japan, China versus South Korea, South versus Japan again, and Lebanon versus South Korea.

Synchronised gymnastics?

17:47 We're struggling to get many pictures of the weightlifting and cycling, but there are some great, and very clever ones, being taken elsewhere. And no, that is not six identical looking gymnasts competing on the pommel horse at the same time... That is not how the team competition works unfortunately, although that would be quite fun. 

I think a synchronised uneven bars routine, with two gymnasts flicking between two bars would be a good one. 

Japan's synchronised swimming team ©AFP/Getty ImagesWang Pang of China on the pommel horse ©Getty Images


First gold for Hong Kong...in the velodrome they complained about (see 16:35)

Incheon 2014 gold medal17:37 Another gold medal to report, which happened as we were distracted by the weightlifting. There is a slightly restrained cheer from the Hong Kong journalist next to me as Olympic bronze medallist Lee Wai Sze wins the women's kerin title.

After sitting behind the bike - which looks like a standard motorbike rather than the usual derny-bike seen in this event - she attacks and holds off her rivals to finish clear of Mustapa Fatehah Binti of Malaysia and Zhong Tianshi of China, the runner-up in the sprint at the 2014 World Championships in Cali. 

World records galore in women's under 53kg weightlifting

Incheon 2014 gold medal17:34 Alas...there is no world record hatrick - it would have been quartet actually as the clean and jerk and overall marks would have gone - Zulfiya Chinshanlo of Kazakhstan misses with an audacious attempt at 137kg. That means Hsu Shu Ching of Taiwan wins the gold medal with an overall total of 233kg! Another thrilling weightlifting competition here in Incheon.

A silver for Chinshanlo despite a clean and jerk world record, missing out by virtue of a weaker snatch performance. The leader after the snatch, Zhang Wanqiong of China, has to be content with bronze overall.

17:32 Two world records, but no guaranteed gold yet. Hsu has no more efforts to come, but Chinshanlo is attempting 137kg. This would be absalutely mammoth, but it is what she needs to win overall. Breaking a world record by 5kg in one lift is virtually unheard of...

World record icon17:30 And Hsu Shu Ching. Also lifts 132kg to take the lead! She is slightly heavier so she won't set a clean and jerk world record but it is a new overall world record mark for the Taiwanese lifter!

World record icon17:28 My hunch was correct! Zulfiya Chinshanlo of Kazakhstan, third after the clean and jerk with 96kg, has just managed a whopping 132kg to put her level in the lead but ahead due to her lighter bodyweight. And that is a clean and jerk world record for the Kazakh! 

She hasn't won gold yet though, although she does have another attempt. Hsu Shu Ching of Taiwan still has another effort to come...

17:26 The women's keirin final is about to begin, but first we will focus on the closing stages of the weightlifting. Zhang Wanqiong led after the snatch but she can only lift 126kg in the clean and jerk and I don't think that is going to be enough. 

Iraqi footballers hoping to unite country

17:21 More on the political significance of Incheon 2014, following that Iraq v Kuwait football match earlier. 

Quote marks"I wish that all the players, not just myself, would place this black badge on their arm, but regulations do not allow it. There is sadness on my face and the faces of the other players as a gesture of sadness on the situation in Iraq and Baghdad, with the murders and explosions, causing injuries and deaths. I hope that our victories will help the Iraq people reunite."
- Iraq's football coach Hakeem Shaker on why he has been wearing a black armband during all of his team's matches, including today when they beat Kuwait 3-0 to reach the quarter-finals (see 15:45)

In September 2013, 300 civil society organizations in Iraq chose the coach as "The First Man of Peace in Iraq" on the occasion of the World Day of Peace for his efforts with the country's national teams

A medal glut on the way on day two

17:14 Action is well underway, also, in the first weightlifting competition of the day, in the women's under 53kg category. Zhang Wanqiong of China is the leader after the snatch competition. She lifted 102kg to edge one kilogram clear of Hsu Shu Ching of Taiwan. 

But as we always say, the snatch is for show but the clean and jerk is for dough. And never has that been emphasised better than yesterday, when Om Yun-chol was well off the pace after the snatch only to fight back quite brilliant with that world record breaking clean and jerk performance to win gold for North Korea. 

17:08 Right, it has been a relatively quiet day as far as medals are concerned so far but things are just about to get going, and get going in a big way. As well as the cycling and gymnastics, which is coming to a head in six in swimming. it is going to be a busy one. 

A shot in the foot? Quite literally... 

16:58
Shweta Chaudhry has clearly come a long way since first taking up the sport.

Quote marks"I'm here because of my family's support, especially my dad. He was the one who took me to the range. But it was a difficult start for me as I accidentally shot myself in the foot"
- India's shooting bronze medallist Shweta Chaudhry on her not very promising start to her career

Gymnastics head to head: or not?

Huang Xi of China competing in the rings in the team gymnastics competition ©Getty Images

16:44 In a few minutes time the final sub-division gets underway in the men's team gymnastics. It is a strange old affair because, although the competition is pitted as a battle between China and Japan, the Chinese team has already finished and the Japanese are yet to begin. I feel this means that it lacks some of the tension and drama of both rivals competing head-to-head. It makes it more like a "time trial" rather than a "mass start" format, to borrow a cycling analogy.

China set a mark of 350.300 after the six disciplines, setting the highest score on all but the parallel bars. In second place currently is North Korea with 338.575, ahead of Vietnam with 333.550. But as well as Japan, the other teams yet to perform are South Korea, India, Kuwait and Singapore. 

Keirin and team pursuit action on the track

16:35 As we reported in April (Incheon 2014 unconcerned by criticism over track cycling venue at Asian Games) there has been a bit of controversy over the track being used here in Incheon. In contrast to the 250-metre tracks on which most international competitions are held, the facility at the Incheon International Velodrome is 333m long. It is also outdoor, meaning that cyclists face the added difficulty of encountering weather and climatic conditions they do not normally experience.

The track has been granted approval by the International Cycling Union, which, in its official lists of rules and regulations, provided explanations for adapting events to 333m as well as 250m tracks. But the Hong Kong Cycling Federation believe it may give the South Korean team an unfair advantage as they will be more used to the unusual conditions than everyone else.

Well, South Korea won the men's team sprint title yesterday, but lost out to China in the corresponding women's event, so you cannot really draw conclusions yet. I feel if Lee Wai Sze wins later, then Hong Kong will not be complaining too much...

16:26 The second day of action in the velodrome has got underway. It is the women's keirin and men's team pursuit today at the Incheon International Velodrome. A journalist from Hong Kong next to us is getting very excited by the presence of Lee Wai Sze in the former event, the London 2012 keirin bronze medal winner. Lee won gold in the 500m time trial at Guangzhou 2010, along with an individual sprint bronze. She wins her opening round race with consummate ease and will move forward to the final later. 

Oceania in Asian Games and Jakarta 2018 confidence

16:18 Speaking of his son, Sheikh Ahmad, a few interesting stories came out of his press conference this morning. Have a look at are two stories here: Jakarta confident of successful 2018 Asian Games but Indonesia admits they have to "work hard" and Oceania countries could compete in Asian Games, admits Sheikh Ahmad

What do you think? Could and should Oceanian countries be able to compete on a different continent? Will Jakarta be able to prepare in four years? Tweet @insidethegames or comment below.

Iraq beat Kuwait at football

16:10 Tragically, Sheikh Fahad Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the founder of the Kuwait Olympic Committee, was killed by elements of the Iraqi Armed Forces during the First Gulf War conflict we mentioned a few moments ago.

16:00 In a football sense, Kuwait is best known for its appearance at the 1982 FIFA World Cup. Kuwait finished bottom of Group 4, drawing with Czechoslovakia and losing to England and France. But it was the match against France that has gone down in history. With the French leading 3-1, midfielder Alain Giresse scored a goal vehemently contested by the Kuwait team, who had stopped play after hearing a piercing whistle from the stands, which they thought had come from Soviet referee Miroslav Stupar. The head of Kuwaiti delegation Sheikh Fahad Al-Ahmad, also the President of the Kuwaiti Football Association and the father of a certain OCA President Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al-Jaber Al Sabah, appeared on the pitch to remonstrate with the referee and, remarkably, the goal was overturned. 

It is considered perhaps the only time a football goal has been directly affected by someone in the stands. Have a look at this great YouTube video below.



15:51 We've spoken a lot about North and South Korea here over the last few days but Iraq and Kuwait are two other nations with a history of conflict. After a longstanding territorial dispute, Saddam Hussein's Iraq invaded in 1990 to begin the First Gulf War. The Iraqis were eventually defeated by a coalition force encompassing 34 different nations led by the United States. It was the first conflict in which live news broadcasts were made from the field of battle.

But returning to sport, and there is no need for embarrassment after that loss for Kuwait. Iraq have swept through all three of their matches so far, which included a win over Japan, whose senior team played at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil earlier this year - all but three of the players must be under 23 remember here, so like the Olympics - and won silver at the Doha 2006 Asian Games. 

15:45 It has been a bittersweet day for Kuwait. Two silver medals but they would have been hoping for two golden ones. More bad news as their men's football team lose 3-0 to Iraq.

China beat Kuwait to another shooting gold

Quote marks"The atmosphere of the shooting range here was really good. The weather was really nice. Everything was just perfect. Actually, before the match my coach told me what to do during the game, so I think I could keep myself calm while shooting. I've never expected to win the gold medal because there are many great players from the Middle East. I'm so surprised honestly."
- Gao Bo of China speaks after his men's trap gold.

15:36 With that victory China are back on top of the medals table. They were two down against South Korea a few hours ago, but it hasn't take them long to win three more golds. 

Incheon 2014 gold medal15:28 Heartbreak for Kuwait as Gao Bo of China beats Fehaid Aldeehani 15-12 to win the men's trap title. Perfect 15/15 for the Chinese, but the Kuwaiti marksman suffered a couple of missed shots in the middle section, and that cost him dearly.

Andrey Mogilevskiy of Kazakhstan wins the bronze medal match against Walid El Najjar of Lebanon.

Chinese victory over Hong Kong in badminton

15:16 Action is really hotting up now in the badminton men's team competition. China have swept past Hong Kong 3-0 to set up a semi-final with Hong Kong at the Gyeyang Gymnasium this afternoon.

On the first match, singles, Chen Long of China took first two sets from Nan Wei of Hong Kong.
On the second match, doubles, Liu Xiaolong and Qiu Zihan took the first set, but Hun Hei Reginald Lee and Chun Man Tang of Hong Kong took the following second set after a tight match. Then, China took the last set and got the second match. On the third match, singles player Lin Dan of China easily took the first two sets of the match against Wing Ki Vincent Wong of Hong Kong.

That is the second Chinese victory over Hong Kong following the one garnered earlier in the cricket.

Disqualification in judo

Victor Scvortov (second right) on the podium after winning bronze for UAE at the World Championships in Chelyabinsk ©AFP/Getty Images

15:04 One of the world's top judoka Victor Scvortov of the United Arab Emirates has been disqualified. Scvortov, who immigrated from Moldova to the UAE, was one of the favorites for today's men's under-73kg.

"Scvortov has been disqualified last night as he did not follow the three-year residency rule for naturalized citizens by OCA," stated Che Kuong Hon, Technical Delegate of Asian Games judo competitions.

After his switch in nationality was introduced last year, Scvortov won the gold at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in November, before claiming bronze at the recent World Championships in Chelyabinsk.

There are two more athletes who will be kicked out of the games; Mihail Marchitan and Ivan Remarenco, both of whom are also from the UAE.

Seventh heaven for China in wushu, and a first for Vietnam

Incheon 2014 gold medal14:55 And there it is. A first gold of Incheon 2014 for Vietnam, after their near-miss in weightlifting yesterday as Duong Thuy Vi wins the women's jianshu and qiangshu all around wushu competition, despite finishing tied in the latter discipline with eventual runner-up, Yi Li of Macau. Seo Heeju of South Korea takes bronze. 

14:42 A thrilling ending to the women's event, with competitors from Vietnam and Macau too close to call in the qiangshu competition. Duong Thuy Vi of Vietnam performed better in the opening jianshu segment however, and that could be enough to enable victory for her.

Quote marks"Daoshu/gunshu all-round is a talou event in men's wushu. Unlike other events, the event is only for men. Daoshu uses a medium-sized, single blade sword, while gunshu uses a long staff that is longer than the players. Players perform acrobatic movements with their body in accordance with their powerful strikes with their respective weapons. This relatively new event was added later to the Asian Games, making its first entrance at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou."
- Incheon 2014 with a slightly more precise description of wushu. 

14:31 The final stages of the women's jianshu and qiangshu all around competition is now in progress.

14:25 All the wushu events so far here in Incheon have been in an exhibition rather than a contest format. With the latest events consisting of movements with swords and spears. I'm sure they would not be happy with this description, but the sport does bear something in common with rhythmic gymnastics I feel, in the sense that it is a set routine of artistic performances using different props.  

Incheon 2014 gold medal14:18 A second gold medal of the day for China as Sun Peiyuan wins the men's daoshu and gunshu all-round event in wushu, triumphing in both sections to get the better of Lee Yonghyun of South Korea. In third place is Manh Quyen Nguyen of Vietnam.

That is China's seventh gold of the Games to bring them back level with South Korea.

Japan or China for team gymnastics glory?

Kai Zou (left) and Kohei Uchimura, pictured at London 2012, will go head to head together again this evening ©Getty Images

14:03 Speaking of gymnastics (see 13:30) the opening medal will be won in the men's team competition this evening. The stage is set for another epic battle between Japan and China. The Chinese have had the edge in recent times, winning the team event at the Guangzhou 2010 Asian Games and then the London 2012 Olympic Games, with Japan taking silver on each occasion.

Both those countries are yet to begin today, but the first round has concluded and Uzbekistan are out current leaders with a total of 323.575. Iran and Kazakhstan are second and third. 

China are led by the five time Olympic champion Zou Kai, but they are lacking some of their other biggest names. They are without both Zhang Chenglong and Lin Chaopan, world champions in high bar and parallel bars, as well as rings star Chen Yibing and parallel bars specialist Feng Zhe.

Japan, meanwhile, will be lead by probably the biggest name in the sport, Kōhei Uchimura, the man who won the last four all around World Championship titles in addition to the London 2012 Olympic one. 

China win men's trap team event

Kuwait flag13:52 It seemed earlier on as if that event might bring a first gold medal of the Games for Kuwait. But it is still a first medal for the oil-rich Gulf nation in which the OCA headquarters, and its President Sheikh Ahmad, are based. 

Kuwait won this event four years ago in Gunagzhou, where shooting provided the country with three of its four gold medals, with the other coming in karate. But on that occasion, the 195 strong Kuwaiti team competed under the Olympic Flag due to the Kuwait Olympic Committee's suspension from the IOC due to Government interference in elections. That suspension was lifted in 2012. 

Incheon 2014 gold medal13:45 The Chinese team took the gold medal in men's trap event with a total of 357 points, finishing ahead of Kuwait in silver with 354 and South Korea, who took bronze with 345. 

Gymnast Son causing most excitement in South Korea


Gymnast Son Yeon Jae is causing most excitement among South Koreans at Incheon 2014 ©Getty Images

13:30
With the gymnastics starting today, it is interesting to note that the event most anticipated by the South Korean public at these Games is the appearance of Son Yeon-Jae in the rhythmic gymnastics.

A total of 25.4 per cent of the 3,000 South Koreans surveyed claimed that watching the three-time Asian Championships gold medallist would be their highlight of the Games. The 20-year-old from Seoul, who trains in Russia, finished fifth in the individual all-round at the World Championships last year. She won her first all-round World Cup title in Lisbon in April.

Son, who has appeared in several reality TV shows in South Korea, is bidding to win the first ever Asian Games gold medal by a rhythmic gymnast from this country. Tickets to her event were the first to be sold-out when booking opened.

Next in the survey was swimmer Park Tae-hwan, who has today qualified for the final of the 200m freestyle (see 10:09), where he is seeking a third consecutive Asian Games gold medal, with 24.3 per cent of the vote. Then it was Yang Hak-seon, the London 2012 Olympic vault gold medallist, and shooter Jin Jong-oh, a triple Olympic champion, with 16.1 and 7.6 per cent respectively. 

Quote marks"The Korean team is new in the game and cricket has lots of technical parts. Sometimes, they [the Korean team] don't follow all those technical parts and being Twenty20 it's difficult to pass messages to the players very quick but we can do upsets and that's why we are looking forward to tomorrow and we take it as an opportunity" - Chaudhary Dipendra, the Nepalese coach of the South Korean women's cricket team, predicting an upset against Hong Kong tomorrow in what will be only the second international match played by the team 

There Is a Light That Never Goes Out - unless there is a technical problem


13:08 We are getting reports that the Asian Games cauldron, that is supposed to be kept lit during the 16 days of competition here, was temporarily extinguished, South Korea officials have admitted. 

The Torch lost its flame at around 11:40 last night after experiencing malfunctions in the cauldron that held the fire but was re-lit 10 minutes later.  Officials blamed complicated structure of the Flame, in which a mixture of water and liquefied gas is used to create a fountain-shaped flame, for the problem. 

The Incheon 2014 was briefly extinguished by technical problems, officials have admitted ©AFP/Getty Images

Other problems yesterday have also emerged, including the first round of the women's badminton team event being delayed after a power outage caused most of the lights and screens to go off for several minutes at Gyeyang Gymnasium.

Officials have also admitted that incorrect timetables have been published for shuttles to and from competition venues. 

Origins of a Derby match

12:52 In international sport, a good derby-match would be Australia v New Zealand in rugby, or Argentina v Brazil in football, or, indeed, China v Hong Kong in table tennis, badminton or, in this most unusual of cases, cricket. 

The term derby may have its origins in medieval football ©Wikipedia12:44 It has struck me that for those not versed in English sporting terminology, you may not be familiar with the term "derby-match".

It refers to a clash between local rivals, such as Manchester United or Manchester City in English football, or, as the name suggests and at a slightly lower level, Derby County and Nottingham Forest.  

The phrase most likely originated from The Derby, a horse race in England, founded by the 12th Earl of Derby in 1780, since at least as early as 1840 "derby" has been used as a noun in English to denote any kind of sporting contest.

Another widely reported theory, though not accepted by the Oxford English Dictionary, is that the phrase came about from the town of Ashbourne in Derbyshire, and shrovetide football played in medieval times. According to the Derby Telegraph, this "was renowned as a chaotic and exuberant game that involved the whole town and often resulted in fatalities".

"The goals were at Nuns Mill in the north and the Gallows Balk in the south of the town, and much of the action took place in the Derwent river or Markeaton brook. Nominally the players came from All Saints' and St Peter's parishes, but in practice the game was a free-for-allwith as many as 1,000 players. A Frenchman who observed the match in 1829 wrote in horror, 'if Englishmen call this play, it would be impossible to say what they call fighting'."

China beat Hong Kong in cricketing derby

12:36 Following our frequent updates yesterday about the growth of cricket in South Korea, a couple of updates to bring you. A big East Asian derby match result to bring you this morning. China have narrowly beaten Hong Kong to the quarter-finals of the women's event after making 83/9 then restricting Hong Kong to 78 in their 20 overs.

You would have though that being a British Dependent Territory until 1997 would have given Hong Kong an advantage in this most English orientated of disciplines. But then China, of course, are quite good at most sports.

Although not as good as South Korea, if the latest medals table is anything to go by.

East Asia to meet South East Asia in sepak takraw semis

12:29 South Korea will face Laos and Myanmar will be up against Japan in the sepak takraw doubles finals later.

"The South East Asian sport played by two teams of two to three players in a court. Players use all parts of their bodies, excluding their hands, and arms, to send the ball to the opposing court in three attempts. The winning point for each set is 21 points. The teams exchange court sides after each set. The first team to win two sets gains victory. If the competing teams win one set each, the game will proceed with its third set so called "overtime" with 15 points.

In the "Regu" team event, each squad consists of three on-court players and two substitutes. One of the three players is on the back of the court, with the other two players located on each side to the front of the court and called "right front" and "left front".

Teenage South Korean beats two Olympic champions to pistol gold

Kim prepares for his final, gold medal winning shot in the 10m air pistol ©AFP/Getty Images

Incheon 2014 gold medal12:17 Another event, another South Korean gold, as Kim Cheongyong takes a second victory of day two in the 10m air pistol final. That's a magnificent performance by the 17-year-old, who won silver at the Summer Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing last month.

Beijing 2008 Olympic champion Pang Wei of China is second and compatriot Jin Jongoh third, the South Korean who won this event at London 2012, and at the last Asian Games in Guangzhou, in addition to the 50m title in Beijing and London. He was beaten soundly as well, 21.9 points behind his gold medal winning team mate. 

End of OCA Press Conference: Oceania-Asia integration in the pipeline?

12:08 The very final question, on whether Oceanian NOCs could be integrated into more Asian events in the future, was the most interesting of the lot. It is a step by step process but nothing can be ruled out, says Sheikh Ahmad. We will be bringing you a more detailed report on this later. 

Sheikh Ahmad spoke for an hour to the press this morning ©AFP/Getty Images

11:59 And with a flurry of final questions - relating to reassurances that Asian cities remain keen and capable of hosting major sporting events - the press conference concludes. Sheikh Ahmad stops to pose for photos with the other speakers, not that they did that much speaking, as well as AIPS (International Sports Press Association) President Gianni Merlo, who steps forward smartly, never one to miss  a photo opp, buttoning up his jacket as he poses...

11:52 Lots more interesting issues being raised as the OCA Press Conference concludes. Tennis being added to the programme for the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Games is one, and possibly for a future Asian Beach Games as well. A sport that needs more international competition, clearly...

Sheikh Ahmad pledges to avoid a repeat of the accusations of sexual abuse seen earlier on in the Games. An Iranian official was kicked out for this reason ahead of the Games getting underway (see our article here). The OCA will not tolerate acts of this nature, he insists. 

South Korea hitting the target again

11:40 The trap won't finish for a while, but the individual 10m air pistol final has started. That formidable South Korean trio will be gunning for more medals...

11:34 The men's trap team final is continuing as well, and will be going on for a while yet. The shotgun events are being held at a separate venue, the Gyeonggido Shooting Range, with the individual competition also coming to a head today. 

It is the second day of individual qualification and M F F Aldeehani Fehaid of Kuwait leads ahead of marksman from the United Arab Emirates and China. Could Kuwait, the location of the OCA headquarters, win double gold later?

Incheon 2014 gold medal11:26 Meanwhile, the strong South Korean start to the Games has continued. They have won the first gold medal of day two, in the men's 10m air pistol team event. Kim Cheongyong, Jin Jongoh and Lee D