GUANGZHOU, CHINA //Kosuke Kitajima, the multiple Olympic gold medallist from Japan, again suffered disappointment at the Asian Games yesterday, placing fourth in his favoured 100 metre breaststroke.
Kitajima, 28, has seemed out of sorts after a hiatus from competition last year.
He trailed winning compatriot Ryo Tateishi and Kazakhstan's Vladislav Polyakov for the entire race and was beaten for bronze by China's Wang Shuai.
Kitajima also finished fourth in the 50m breaststroke.
"I knew after my turn I wouldn't win the race. Although I swam faster in the morning, I didn't swim fast enough," he said.
On a balmy evening inside the packed Aoti Aquatics centre, the Chinese national anthem was played repeatedly as China won five golds out of seven on the third day of swimming competition.
In the men's 50m freestyle, China's Lu Zhiwu thrashed down the pool to edge out Japan's Masayuki Kishida in a tight race to take gold in 22.37secs. Rammaru Harada of Japan took bronze.
China's Gao Chang took gold with a confident swim in the women's 50m backstroke, easily fending off Japan's Aya Terakawa who trailed more than four-tenths of a second behind her. "My time here is the best in the world right now, so I'm very happy with my swim," Gao said.
The UAE's Mubarak al Besher finished eighth in the second heat of the men's 100m breaststroke and failed to reach the final.
Also for the UAE yesterday:
In judo, Khalifa Hamad al Qubaisi won his first match in the 73kg division, defeating Chi Yip Cheung of Hong Kong. He later lost to Hiroyuki Akimoto of Japan.
In table tennis, Rashed Mohammed Hassan won his match in the round of 32, defeating Purshottam Bajracharya of Nepal.
In shooting, Asma Salam al Nuami placed 21st in the finals of the women's 50m prone rifle, and Shamsa Ali al Marzoui was 43rd.
In track cycling, Badr Ali al Balooshi finished second in a preliminary race in men's sprint.
In sailing, Adil Khalid was ninth in a preliminary race in open laser radial. Hamood Salem al Zaidi was ninth in a preliminary race in men's dinghy optimist.
In bowling, Eqab Jaber Nayef was in ninth place after the first round of men's singles Squad A competition, and Ali al Hassan Shaker was 13th. In Squad B, Mohammed Shelaiweeh al Qubaisi and Mahmood Ahmad Alattar were tied for 14th, Hussain Nasir al Suwaidi was 17th, and Sayed Ibrahim al Hashemi was 30th.
In men's chess, Abdullah Hassan had a win and two losses and AR Saleh Salem had a win, a loss and a draw. In women's play, Nora Mohammed Saleh had two draws and a loss, and Kholoud Essa al Zarouni had a win and two losses.