Thai trailblazer Boonson claims sprint double in rainy Nagoya

Puripol Boonson broke new ground for Thailand athletics on Sunday, storming to the 200 metres gold on a damp track to complete the sprint double at the Asian Games.

Having claimed the 100m gold in 9.90 seconds two days ago, the 20-year-old became the first Thai sprinter to break the 20-second barrier in the 200m with a run of 19.88.

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Boonson's time at the Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium matched the seven-year-old Asian record set by China's Xie Zhenye and confirmed him as one of the continent's most exciting track talents ahead of next year's world championships in Beijing.

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"I'm going to aim for more golds and more records. I can't say how fast it's going to be, but it's going to be more records and faster," said Boonson, who was more than a half-second quicker than China's runner-up Huang Youwen.

Singapore's Shanti Pereira retained the women's 200m title in 22.78, becoming the first to win the event back-to-back.

Beaten by China's rising star Chen Yujie for the 100m gold, Pereira denied the 17-year-old by 0.15 seconds in the 200m.

"I was like, ’No, you (Chen) got it that day. Today is me. Nothing in the world is going (to) stop me'," said the 30-year-old.

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CRAMPED ATHLETES

Five years after Japan staged an Olympics without fans due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Aichi-Nagoya Games have been under scrutiny over a lack of fan interest, and rainy weather proved a dampener on the eighth full day, with banks of empty seats at competition venues.

Accommodation has also been in the spotlight, with organisers opting to house athletes and officials in a mix of hotels, temporary wooden huts and a cruise ship. Some athletes had found them "rather cramped", an official admitted.

Squash powerhouse Malaysia celebrated as Ng Eain Yow and Sivasangari Subramaniam won back-to-back gold in the men's and women's singles respectively, the first athletes to earn quota berths to the sport's Olympic debut at Los Angeles 2028.

Subramaniam, who has gone from strength to strength since a near-fatal crash in 2022, said: "World number one and an Olympic gold medal is my goal."

Sunday kicked off with penalty-laden race walk events, with India's Priyanka Goswami, a Commonwealth Games runner-up, disqualified for racking up too many red cards in the women's marathon, which was won by Kazakh Yasmina Toxanbayeva.

World bronze medallist Hayato Katsuki walked "cautiously" to win the men's marathon gold for Japan in 3:03:36, leaving a three-minute gap to China's runner-up Zhou Yingcheng.

"I’m confident that in terms of power, I’m the best in the world," said the 35-year-old, who won his second Games title after the 50-km gold at Jakarta 2018.