Intense rivalry to excite fans in Guangzhou

By Yoon Chul

Sports competitions are usually tinged with an extra bit of excitement for fans when star rivals clash and provide a particularly tense show of athleticism.

During the Guangzhou Asian Games to be held from Nov. 12 for 16 days, many rivals are scheduled to collide for the top position in many events.

While South Korea will battle with Japan for the second spot in the overall medal standing, some specific athletes will have highly suspenseful bouts with archrivals in Guangzhou.

The South Korean national baseball team is facing off against Japan and Taiwan in a bid to regain the gold medal.

“In 2006 Korea expected to snatch the gold medal for a third consecutive occasion in the Asian Games and after their great performance in the first World Baseball Classic (WBC), further increasing the expectations from baseball fans.

But Korea lost to Taiwan and Japan, to come third.

At that time, then rookie pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin of the Hanwha Eagles, who leads the mound as an ace in 2010, allowed five runs in 2 1/3 innings.

I was full of conceit. I also looked down on Taiwan,” Ryu said. “The only thing that matters for me is the gold medal,” Ryu said showing his strong desire for a win.

For that goal to be met, the most formidable rival is not archrival Japan but defending champion Taiwan.

Their line-up is composed of Minor Leaguers, which is not at all weak.

Meanwhile Japan has made up a team with only social league players without any professional players.

But Koreans should remember the Japanese team, which beat them in 2006 in Doha, was also composed with social league players.

The Asian Games gold medal has another meaning for the athletes as it qualifies them for exemption from military service.

The baseball squad manager Cho Bum-hyun has called 10 players who have yet to complete their military service including Cleveland Indians best hitter Choo Shin-soo.

The Korean rugby team is also looking for gold by beating Japan.

The number of Korean rugby players is only one-hundredth that of Japan. But in the seven-man and 15-man competition Korea beat Japan in 1998 and 2002 but in the last Asian Games only the seven-man event was held and Japan beat Korea 27-26.

In individual events, Beijing Olympic gold medalist swimmer Park Tae-hwan is challenging Zhang Lin to reclaim the top podium in a vengeful race.

Park, who clinched the top place in the men’s 200-, 400- and 1,500-freestyle events in the Doha Asian Games, is ahead of Zhang in the 200- and 400-meter events based on records for 2010.

Park collapsed last year in the World Championships failing to make the final round in all of the events he entered in Rome, while Zhang earned a bronze in the 400 meters with a time of 3:41.35 and gold in the 800 meters with a new world record (7:32.12).

The 21-year-old Korean, however, grabbed gold and silver in the Pan Pacific Championships in the United States clocking in at three minutes 44.73 seconds ― the best record in 2010.

In the 200-meter category Park set a 1:46.27 (sixth in the world) record for silver.

Zhang was 1.27 seconds behind Park in the 200 meters, but the margin between them in the 400 meters is only .18 seconds.

Fans may not anticipate Park claiming all three gold medals as he did four years ago because Zhang was more than 15 seconds ahead in the 1,500 meter-freestyle.

Meanwhile weightlifting world record holder Jang Mi-ran is seeking to snatch gold in the women’s 75-kilogram class to beat Chinese rising star Meng Suping.

In the recent World Championships, Meng lifted 310 kilograms, one kilogram more than Jang’s record for silver while Jang was injured.

As for judo, Kim Jae-bum hopes to grab gold over Japanese rival Masahiro Takamatsu in the men’s 81-kilogram class.

Kim has often just failed to get the top position. In the Beijing Olympics too much training made him exhausted and he brought home the silver. Last year in the World Championships, he had to be satisfied with a bronze medal after breaking a rib during the competition.

In 2010 Kim finally clinched the top podium in the World Championships, which was the lone gold medal for Korea in the competition.

Meanwhile Takamatsu is one of the best judoka in that class.

So far the two archrivals have clashed three times including in the semifinals in the World Championships in September, Korea grabbed victories in all head-to-head matches.

Kim will try to extend his rise, while Takamatsu will challenge to regain gold in Guangzhou.

yc@koreatimes.co.kr