Golden milestone

China won the Asian Games' first esports gold medal last night in an event closely watched by Olympic officials.

A team of five Chinese gamers beat Malaysia for the title in the "Arena of Valor" competition in Hangzhou as esports pushed its case for Olympic inclusion five years after being a demonstration sport at the Jakarta Asian Games.

Chinese authorities frown on excessive gaming and have put limits on children's playing time since 2021.

But thousands of home fans were in a frenzy at the Hangzhou Esports Centre as China beat Malaysia 2-0 in a best-of-three clash for the popular mobile phone game.

Tapping furiously on their phones amid ear-splitting music and live commentary, the players communicated via headsets throughout a contest that stretched to 45 minutes and may have seemed bizarre to sports purists.

Thailand earlier claimed the Games' first esports medal by beating Vietnam for the bronze.

China, who have topped the medals table at the last 10 Asian Games, stretched their lead with another pile of gold in their traditional strengths of gymnastics, table tennis and shooting.

Home favorite and twice world champion gymnast Zhang Boheng grabbed his second gold of the Games, adding the all-around individual title to his men's team triumph on Sunday.

Unbeaten in every rotation, Zhang capped a brilliant afternoon by sticking the landing in the horizontal bar to finish with a total score of 89.299, more than two points clear of Japan's Takeru Kitazono.

North Korea's delegation has made a splash in their first appearance at a multi-sport event since Jakarta five years ago.

On Monday, three North Korean shooters refused to join their South Korean rivals in a group photo of medal winners after narrowly missing out on gold.

South Korea's delegation has also been in the spotlight for the conduct of its athletes.

Judoka Lee Hye Kyeong was disqualified in the semi-finals of the women's 48-kg division for slapping a Kazakh opponent in the face during their bout, while men's tennis player Kwon Soo Woo destroyed his racket in an epic tantrum after he lost to a lower-ranked Thai.

Kwon, who also snubbed the post-match handshake, visited Thailand's training camp to apologize, a South Korean tennis federation official said.