Chengdu Universiade | Day 2: China tops medal table with nine-gold rush

Team China gave a stellar performance, catapulting to the top of the medal table with nine gold medals at the 31st FISU World University Games on Sunday.

The gold rush in Wushu continued for China, who bagged three more golds on Sunday after a haul of four golds the previous day.

After snatching the first gold of the Universiade in the men's Nanquan, China's Cao Maoyuan did a double, triumphing in the men's Nangun on Sunday.

Cao expressed his desire to continue engaging with other athletes about martial arts after wrapping up his own events. "I will try my best to promote traditional martial arts in the future," Cao stated.

China's Jin Zhedian also won his second gold in the men's Daoshu. "Through years of practice, I've fallen in love with martial arts," said Jin, emphasizing his eagerness to learn from foreign athletes.

In archery, China kept their cool to edge out defending champion South Korea 5-4 for the recurve women's team title. South Korean Lee Ga-hyun shot a 2 in the first attempt, giving China an easy lead. However, South Korea found their rhythm in the subsequent two sets, registering two 55s against China's 53 and 52, taking the lead at 4-2. The Chinese team, undeterred, won the fourth set 54-53 to tie at 4-all, sending the competition into a deciding round.

In the decider, South Korea opened with an 8, while China scored a 9, a narrow lead which China held onto until the final victory as both teams tied 10-10 and 9-9 in the following shots.

"After I shot a 7, I wondered why I had made a mistake and began to doubt myself. At that time, the encouragement from my teammates helped me rebuild my confidence," reflected Chinese archer Wang Limin.

Earlier, the Chinese men's team clinched victory in the compound team event.

The Chinese shooters were on target on the second day of competition, adding two more golds to their medal tally.

In rhythmic gymnastics, China secured the team all-around gold medal with a triumphant score of 57.150 points.

Captain Xiao Mingxin said that "we integrated Chinese Kung Fu into the five hoops choreography and incorporated a Sichuan folk song into the three ribbons and two balls choreography, which worked really well."

In taekwondo, China snatched a gold medal in mixed pair poomsae.

China now tops the medal tally with 13 gold, four silver, and three bronze medals, followed by Japan and South Korea with nine and eight golds respectively.