First doping case reported at Asian Games :

Sri Lanka meets China in Rugby Sevens

Dinesh WEERAWANSA reporting from China

ASIAD: GUANGZHOU, Nov. 20. - Sri Lanka will scrum down with the hosts China in their opening match of the 16th Asian Games seven-a-side rugby championship opening first round game to be played at University Town Main Stadium here on Sunday evening. Led by Radhika Hettiarachchi, Sri Lanka rugby team has been working hard since their arrival here.

The Lankan team has a light workout at a nearby practice venue today and are confident that they could do well here. Coach Imthisham Marikar has been working closely with the lads and would make every effort to make their presence felt.

"The boys are in good shape after practice sessions. But we have not finalised the team yet, probably we will do that by tomorrow morning," Sri Lanka coach Marikar, the former Trinity and Sri Lanka winger said.

"Initially we were to play all three matches in one day but now they have split the tournament over three days, giving some time for the teams to relax in between the games," he added.

Sri Lanka team is down to play two more games in the qualifying round matches scheduled for Monday - against Asian heavyweights South Korea in the morning session and minnows India in the afternoon.

The Asian Games men's rugby sevens starts with a game between China and South Korea. Exactly three hours after this game, China will take on Sri Lanka in their second match.

Cricket - better medal prospect

But Sri Lanka has a better medal prospect in cricket - the Twenty20 championship of the Asian Games. Sri Lanka cricket team, led by Jehan Mubarak had several practice sessions under the watchful eyes of Sumithra Warnakulasuriya.

However, their opponents in the Wednesday's quarter finals are still unknown. Sri Lanka received a bye to play directly in the quarter finals, along with Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

The qualifying round matches of the men's cricket tournament will begin on Sunday with the hosts China testing their strength in their newly-found sport against Malaysia.

Meanwhile, China continued to strengthen their grip in all spheres, winning a rich haul of gold medals in almost all the disciplines they have tried. Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei of China won the gold in women's doubles badminton beating their teammates Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang 2-1 in the final. Wang Hao and Zhang Jike of China beat their compatriots Ma Lin and Xu Xin 4-2 to win men's doubles gold in table tennis. Chinese pair Jiang Wenwen and Jiang Tingting won the gold medal in duet synchronised swimming at the co-host city Foshan.

Athletes from Kuwait, who won the men's trap team gold in shooting, received their medals from none other than the Asian Olympic chief Sheikh Ahmad Fahad Al-Sabah of their county's Royal family.

South Korea won the gold medal in men's baseball beating Taiwan 9-3 in the final. Behdad Salimikordasiabi of Iran won the gold medal in men's +105kg weightlifting. China won the gold medal in Women's 250m Straight Race Dragon Boat. The gold medal in the men's race of the same went to Indonesia.

Thailand was able to shatter China's dreams of a yet another gold, this time in women's team sepaktakraw. Thailand beat China 2-0 in the final at Haizhu Sports Centre to take the gold medal.

Uzbekistani judoka in dope scandal

The first dope test case was reported in the 16th Asian Games with an Uzbekistani judoka showing a positive response to a banned steroid. Shokir Muminov, who won the silver medal in men's 81kg of the judo competition was identified as the culprit.

His urine specimen collected on 14 November 2010 after the competition was found to contain Methylhexaneamine, a prohibited substance in the WADA prohibited list - a stimulant in category (S6) of the list.

After due process according to the rules and procedures of the OCA, it has been determined that the above finding constitutes an anti-doping rules violation. Accordingly, he has been disqualified from the competition as well as these Games and his performance in the competition has been nullified, his medal withdrawn and appropriate adjustment made to the results. These findings will now be forwarded to the athlete's national authorities, the International Federation of the sport concerned (International Judo Federation) and the World Anti-Doping Agency for further action on their part.

FINA commends Guangzhou

President of world swimming governing body FINA, Dr. Julio C. Maglione, confirmed Asia's one additional member on the FINA Bureau at the 7th Asia Swimming Federation Congress in Guangzhou.

The world swimming chief praised the OCA's active role in developing the sport in the world's biggest and most populous continent. "Asia is a fast growing region both in economical terms and in the sports field as well," Dr. Maglione said in his opening speech.

"The Asia Swimming Federation and the Olympic Council of Asia are both protagonists of this development.

I'd like to congratulate OCA President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah and the Director General, who is Vice President of FINA, Husain Al Musallam, for the outstanding opening ceremony of the Guangzhou Asian Games."

"I'm fully aware of the reality of swimming sport in Asia. More aquatic stars from Asia are emerging, more high-level competitions are organised in Asia; there is more interest from major TV networks, and more sponsors are highlighting our activities in this exciting continent," he said. "Being aware of this reality, I agree with the proposal of one additional member from Asia to enter the FINA Bureau. It is a fair tribute to the vitality of Asia," the FINA chief said.