HONG KONG (AP) — Yu Wei edged his Japanese rival by just one second in the men's 20-kilometer walk to secure China the first gold in track at the East Asian Games on Thursday.
Yu finished in 1 hour, 26 minutes and 46 seconds, just ahead of Koichiro Morioka.
It was almost as close in the women's event, with China's Li Yanfei crossing in 1:35:33, seven seconds before Japan's Kumi Otoshi.
Eight other golds were on offer on the first day of track and field competition, with finals in women's shot put, men's long jump, men's and women's 200 meters, men's javelin, women's pole vault and men's and women's 800 meters.
In other sports, the ninth-ranked women's tennis doubles player in the world, Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei, and her partner Chuang Chia-jung defeated their South Korean opponents in straight sets to clinch gold. China's Zhang Ze and Zeng Shaoxuan took out the men's doubles.
In badminton team semifinals, Olympic men's singles champion Lin Dan led China to a 3-0 defeat of Japan. South Korea won the other semifinal, beating Taiwan 3-0.
In women's road cycling, China's Liu Xiaohui held off Taiwan's Huang Ho-hsun and compatriot Sheng Yongyan to claim gold.
Elsewhere, South Korea kept up its domination in ten-pin bowling, winning both the men's and women's trios, bringing its gold medal tally in the sport to four.
In weightlifting, Macau's Zhang Shaoling took the women's 69-kilogram title.
The final eight golds in swimming will be contested later Thursday.
