Kicking up a row

From taekwando to cycling,controversies make an appearance at Asiad

Tearful Taiwanese taekwondo competitor Yang Shu-chun was disqualified from the Asian Games on Wednesday for using unauthorised footgear,sparking protests from team officials. In the Korean martial arts discipline,Yang had almost defeated Vietnamese Thi Hau Vu in the womens 49-kg event when match officials halted the bout a few seconds from the end after deciding her footguards carried unauthorised extra electronic sensors.

A tearful Yang refused to leave the arena and staged a sit-down protest on the mat,with the World Taekwondo Federation now considering whether to impose sanctions on the Olympic semi-finalist and her coach. We are very angry, Liu Ching-wen,Yangs coach said. The athletes prepared for these games for a year-and-a-half and her goal was to win gold but now she cant compete, the coach added.

Taiwan officials,protested against the decision,stressing the equipment had been previously green-lighted for the bout. The footwear passed the original pre-match checks,but during the match when she was leading 9-0 the officials decided the footwear was unacceptable, said Taiwan team official Tang Hui-ting.

Following consultations with the manufacturer of the footguards,Yang Jin Suk,the secretary general of the World Taekwondo Federation said the sensors could help fighters gain points more easily.

Kick-cycling

An Uzbek track cyclist at the Asian Games tried to kick his South Korean rival after they collided and crashed to the floor in the mens points race on Wednesday. Cho Ho-sung,who took gold in the event at the 2002 Busan Games,rolled off the track with Uzbekistans Vadim Shaekhov in a tangle of bikes and bodies at Guangzhou Velodrome after attempting to avoid another crash further ahead.

Cho shoved Shaekhovs bike from his,which angered the Uzbek,who swung a kick at the Korean but missed. Shaekhov blamed Cho for the incident after he finished the race 11th from 24 starters.

There was a crash further up the banking. Cho swerved to avoid the crash and hit me,bringing me down, he said. My bike flew off and got tangled up with Chos. Cho pulled the bikes apart and shoved mine out of the way,which made me really angry so I tried to give Cho a kick. Uzbekistans coach Almas Yusufov supported his rider. Shaekhov did try to kick him. Good on him, he said.

Robbed of a gold medal

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Japan reigned supreme in Asian Games judo,but they claimed they were robbed of a gold medal by bad refereeing. In the women8217;s 48kg final,which brought the curtain down on the four-day competition,Japan8217;s former world champion Tomoko Fukumi lost to Wu Shugen of China by a 2-1 decision. Despite apparently remaining the aggressor,the referee did not give her any points.

8220;There may be some home-or-away issue here but the decision was too terrible to be accepted in this world of competition,8221; Yoshimura said,pointing out Wu had not made any solid attacks while Fukumi floored her for a pinning attempt three times.