Asian Games 2014: Day 1 Results, Updated Medal Table and Incheon Schedule

After an effervescent and entertaining opening ceremony, the Asian Games got underway in marvellous fashion as the athletes involved began their respective pursuits toward gold-medal glory.

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With all the pre-competition talk done, a host of competitors had little time to sample the Incheon atmosphere, as they were thrust straight in to compete in various disciplines. And with 36 sports to sample and 439 gold medals to be won, there was plenty of stellar action to sample on the first day of the 2014 Asiad.

Here’s your roundup of how the first medals were won on Day 1 and the main storylines at the start of what’s set to be an engrossing Games in Incheon.

Position	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Korea	5	5	3	13
2	China	5	1	5	11
3	Mongolia	2	1	1	4
4	Kazakhstan	2	0	3	5
5	Japan	1	4	3	8
6	DPR Korea	1	0	1	2
6	India	1	0	1	2
8	Malaysia	1	0	0	1
9	Vietnam	0	2	2	4
10	Indonesia	0	2	0	2
11	Chinese Taipei	0	1	2	3
12	Macau	0	1	0	1
12	Turkmenistan	0	1	0	1
14	Uzbekistan	0	0	2	2
15	Singapore	0	0	1	1

Full Day 1 Results And Schedule To Follow 

Shooting Glory For India

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Jitu Rai was the star of the show on the opening day of the Asian Games, taking gold for India in the 50-meter Air Pistol competition. The Indian shooter held off the challenge of Vietnam’s Hoang Phuong Nguyen and Wang Zhiwei, who finished in second and third place, respectively, to take the title.

Rai was coming into this one on the back of a silver medal in the World Championships on his last competitive outing, and he showcased some excellent form here to post a final score of 186.2 in what was a wonderfully fought contest.

The gold-medal winner was delighted to finish atop such a high-class field, per Times of India:

"

I wanted to win this gold badly and was under a lot of pressure. The competition here was even more than in the Commonwealth Games or the World Championship.

I am happy that I could fulfill my wish.

"

Indian cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle paid tribute to Rai’s display:

And it was not the only medal won by the Indians in the shooting, as Shweta Chaudhry notched the nation's first medal of the games in the 10-meter Air Pistol event, a discipline that was won by China's Zhang Mengyuan, with South Korea's Jung Jee-Hae taking silver.

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What made Chaudhry’s bronze even more impressive was the fact that she had to change her weapon ahead of this event; some problems at customs left her original weapon kept in isolation for three days, per Times of India.

China Dominant on Opening Day

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For the fourth consecutive year it was the Chinese who took the opening medal of the games, as Guo Wenjun, Zheng and Zhou Qingyuan won the women's 10-meter Air Pistol team event. The trio won by five points from Chinese Taipei, with the threesome from Mongolia taking the bronze medal.

And for Zhang it would prove to be an extra special day, as the 24-year-old won her second gold medal of the day in the individual discipline.

Lee Jin-man/Associated Press

It was the first of a clutch of gold medals for China on Day 1 of the games, as the nation set a positive precedent for the rest of the competition with some excellent performances in various disciplines. Indeed, the men took centre stage soon afterwards as Pang Wei, Pu Qifeng and Wang Zhiwei produced an excellent display to give China another gold and wins in the shooting on Day 1.

Subsequently it's China who top the medals table at the end of Day 1, and if the country's competitors continue to perform with such distinguished dominance, it's difficult to see any nation coming close to matching their medal haul.

Golden Start For Hosts

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Lee Ha-sung picked up South Korea's first gold medal of the games on Day 1, emerging victorious in the men's changquan. He posted a score of 9.71 points to put him ahead of Macau's Jia Rui and Daisuke Ichikizaki of Japan, who scored 9.69 and 9.67 points respectively.

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Roared on by the home crowd at the Ganghwa Dolmens Gymnasium, Lee—who qualified for the final in ninth position—produced an almost flawless display to give South Korea their first gold medal in wushu at the Asian Games for 12 years.

Lee said the crowd helped to play a big part in his victory, per johnhapnews.co.kr:

"

I felt just the right amount of tension. When the Korean spectators clapped and cheered, I got really pumped up.

I told myself I shouldn't get too caught up in the result. I just wanted to give the best I had.

"

And the home supporters found themselves celebrating for the second time on Day 1, as the South Korean team claimed the gold medal in the dressage event, too. They posted a score of 71.737 points to finish ahead of Japan and Taiwan, who took second and third place, respectively.