Asian Games | China claims sixth straight artistic swimming team title with debut of new routine

NAGOYA, Japan, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- China topped all three artistic swimming team routines at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Monday to claim the team title and extend its winning streak in the discipline to six consecutive editions.

China opened Monday's competition with its "Soul of the Terracotta Warriors" acrobatic routine, posting 246.0977 points to top the standings. The team had already led the technical routine on Sunday with 312.1990 points for a performance inspired by the Chinese video game Black Myth: Wukong, in which the swimmers wore golden headbands and portrayed the protagonist Sun Wukong.

Head coach Zhang Xiaohuan said the "Wukong" program marked its competitive farewell.

"I was very pleased that the athletes were in excellent form and performed very well. They achieved the highest score for this routine since its debut," Zhang said. "I'm very glad that they were able to showcase the results of their training on the Asian Games stage."

On Monday, China also premiered a new team free routine themed "Time," using sharp leg movements to suggest clock hands and fluid formations to evoke the passage of time.

Making its international debut, the routine earned 299.2117 points and helped China post a combined total of 857.5084 points for the gold medal.

After three days of competition, Japan took silver and Kazakhstan claimed bronze.

China's Xiang Binxuan said the new routine had been the team's greatest challenge at the Games.

"This routine made its international debut today, and it was the biggest challenge of this competition for us. The routine has a high degree of difficulty, and we overcame many difficulties during our preparation and training," Xiang said. "Today, everyone was able to perform steadily and present the entire routine successfully. I want to give a big thumbs-up to every member of our team."

China also extended its six-edition winning streak in the duet event, where Lin Yanjun and Xu Huiyan claimed gold on Sunday. China's breakthrough at the 2006 Doha Asian Games, when it ended Japan's long dominance by winning both the duet and team titles, has been followed by uninterrupted success in all artistic swimming events at subsequent Asian Games.

"The rise of Chinese artistic swimming has been built on the tireless efforts of generations of athletes," Zhang said. "I have always believed that the future of artistic swimming depends on continuity and that its legacy must be carried forward. Only through the dedication of successive generations and the passing of the torch can Chinese artistic swimming continue to make breakthroughs and move steadily forward."