China set to top gold medal count at Asian Games
DOHA, Qatar: With just two full days of competition left in the 15th version of the Asian Games, there were a few certainties: _ China will again top the gold medal list, and likely go over the 150 mark that it set at the 2002 games in Busan. Going into competition
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DOHA, Qatar: With just two full days of competition left in the 15th version of the Asian Games, there were a few certainties:
_ China will again top the gold medal list, and likely go over the 150 mark that it set at the 2002 games in Busan. Going into competition early Wednesday, it had 137 golds and 269 medals overall. South Korea and Japan looked set to duel for second-place honors, with South Korea leading 47 gold medals to 46.
_ the host country, looking to use these games as an early dry run for a likely bid for the 2016 Olympics, had something very special to look forward to: its soccer team will play Persian Gulf neighbor Iraq in the gold medal final on Friday afternoon, just hours before the closing ceremonies begin. Qatar's win over Iran on Tuesday was met with plenty of raucous, firecracker-throwing celebrations, with bumper-to-bumper traffic around Doha well into the early-morning hours. Its basketball team could also be in the gold medal final Friday if it beats Iran in a semifinal on Wednesday night.
_ the games would have a drug taint, regardless of whether any more positive tests are announced over the next two days. An Iraqi bodybuilder was disqualified after 134 doses of the performance-enhancing steroid nandrolone were found in his luggage by authorities at Doha's international airport, the fifth doping-related disqualification announced in four days at the Doha Games. The other four were from positive doping tests.
_ the Asian Games brought rain to the desert. Games spokesman Ahmed Abdulla Al Khulaifi said Wednesday that Doha airport had registered 53 millimeters (just over 2 inches) of rain in December, the fourth-highest total in December in 44 years. "We hope not to add too much to the total before the closing ceremonies," said Al Khulaifi, although thunderstorms were forecast for later Wednesday and showers for Thursday.
That rain could affect India's chances of picking up three gold medals at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex later Wednesday.
In two of the three tennis finals — men's doubles and mixed doubles — India is strong favorites to win gold, and Leander Paes features in both.
And India's rising star, Sania Mirza, who will partner Paes in the mixed doubles, is a good bet in the women's final, having beaten top-seeded Li Na of China 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinals.
Mirza, seeded fourth, has not dropped a set at the games. She faces China's Zheng Jie.
The pair have met only once before — in the Hyderabad Open final in India in 2005, when Mirza used the home crowd to her advantage to claim her first Women's Tennis Association event with a 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 victory.