The final stages of the 6th Asian Beach Games in Sanya have solidified China’s position as a regional powerhouse in coastal sports, with the host nation capturing four gold medals on Sunday alone across beach athletics, open water swimming, and dragon boat racing. A standout performance came from marathon swimming specialist Zhang Ziyang, who secured the men’s 5km title with a time of 53 minutes and 46.0 seconds. Zhang’s strategy of maintaining a front-running pace from the first lap successfully held off Vietnamese challengers Nguyen Huy Hoang and Mai Tran Tuan Anh, providing him with a critical “fitness and race management” stress test ahead of future 10km marathon events.
In beach athletics, the technical challenges of competing on sand were underscored during the relay and field events. China’s men’s 4x60m relay team—comprising Huang Youchao, Li Mengyuan, Wang Xinkai, and Ailikuti Yishake—achieved a gold-medal finish in 26.06 seconds, narrowly defeating Thailand. However, the women’s 4x60m relay saw a tactical victory for Thailand, which stormed to gold in 29.46 seconds, leaving the Philippines and China to take silver and bronze, respectively. According to People’s Daily, the performance delta between sand and synthetic tracks remains a key area of study for coaches, as athletes must manage a significant reduction in ground reaction force.
Field events delivered equally dramatic results, most notably in the men’s shot put. Iran’s Hassan Ajamibakhtiarvand broke the dominance of the Chinese favorites with a final-round throw of 20.17 meters, setting a personal best and breaching the 20m barrier on a beach surface. This performance was particularly impressive given the unstable footing, which typically favors throwers with exceptional upper-body speed and anchor-foot stability. In the women’s high jump, Uzbekistan’s Barnokhon Sayfullaeva cleared 1.85 meters on her second attempt at that height, proving that elite verticality is possible even without the traditional “pop” of a hard-surface run-up.
The dragon boat grand finals further highlighted China’s regional dominance in traditional water sports. The Chinese women’s team completed the 400m race in 1 minute and 48.899 seconds, while the men’s team secured their gold with a time of 1 minute and 34.990 seconds. These results, combined with successful rounds in beach volleyball and kabaddi, indicate a high ROI for China’s investment in specialized beach sports infrastructure. As the games transition into their final day, the focus shifts to the mixed team open water relay and the conclusion of teqball, where the hosts will be aiming for a “golden hat-trick” to cap off a highly successful continental campaign.
News source: https://peoplesdaily.pdnews.cn/sports/er/30051995129