The China Mail - China, Japan battle for basketball gold as Games doping cases mount

Gold medals were up for grabs on the 12th day of competition in Hangzhou in everything from cycling and squash to weightlifting and wrestling.

China added to their medal haul -- now standing at 176 golds -- when He Jie fulfilled a dream by winning the men's marathon, emphatically seeing off the challenge of North Korea's Han Il Ryong.

Bahrain's Kenyan-born Eunice Chumba was in a class of her own in the women's event, claiming victory by nearly two minutes in 2hr 26min 14sec.

He, who came 45th at the August world championships in Budapest, was neck-and-neck with Han at the 40-kilometre mark of the Qiantang River Green Belt course.

But he gradually ground down his North Korean rival to edge clear, powering to the finish line in 2:13.02sec and winning by 25 seconds.

"I told my coach that I have a dream and I will do it no matter what it takes," said the 24-year-old He.

"All of my plans this year were centred around preparing for the Asian Games because this competition is held in China and 1.4 billion Chinese people are watching."

In cycling, young Kazakh rider Yevgeniy Fedorov was gifted gold by decorated teammate Alexey Lutsenko as they crossed the line nearly six minutes ahead of the rest in the men's road race.

The pair, who ride professionally for Astana Qazaqstan alongside British great Mark Cavendish, timed their race to perfection on the challenging 207.7-kilometre (128-mile) course through the mountains.

After sitting in the chasing peloton, defending champion Lutsenko took control with 80km left and the duo stayed together as they pulled clear.

They were seen chatting as they cruised to the finish, with Lutsenko waving his teammate over the line first in 4:25.29.

"In the end, we decided that I could win a gold medal because Alexey had already won a gold medal in this race at the 2018 Asian Games," said the 23-year-old Fedorov.

All eyes will turn later in the day to Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium.

China meet Japan in the women's basketball final, with the hosts bidding to retain their crown in front of what is sure to be a partisan home crowd.

In the battle for bronze, South Korea cut neighbours North Korea and their giant centre Pak Ji Na down to size to win 93-63.

Pak stands 6ft 9in (2.06m) and scored 51 points in a first-round game against Taiwan but she could not lead her team to a medal despite her game-high 27 points.

- Medallist fails doping test -

Turkmenistan's Tejen Tejenov became the first medallist in Hangzhou to fail a doping test and the fifth athlete in all.

The 30-year-old, who came second in the heavyweight 90kg category of kurash, an ancient form of wrestling, tested positive for anabolic steroids, the International Testing Agency said.

He has been provisionally suspended and is in danger of being stripped of his silver medal.

"The athlete has been informed of the case and has been provisionally suspended with immediate effect," said the ITA, which handles some areas of doping control at the Games.

"He has the right to request the analysis of the B-sample."

Doping results generally take several days to come through so more cases are likely before the Games end on Sunday.

B.Chan--ThChM