By 7 pm (Iran standard time) on the first day of the 2018 Asian Games, China was leading the 45 nations competing in the medal count with 16 medals including seven gold, five silver and four bronze medals followed by Japan and South Korea.
The multi-sport continental tournament officially opened in Jakarta on Saturday. The games include a total of 462 events in 40 sports. All 45 members of the Olympic Council of Asia are participating.
According to the website of the games, North and South Korea delegates marched together under one flag in the opening ceremony, marking the first time both countries did so in the Asian Games after 12 years.
Swimming is the sport in which China has collected the most number of medals (10) with four gold, two silver and four bronze medals. The Chinese also won two medals in shooting and two in fencing (one gold and one silver in each field). Athletes from the East Asian nation were among the winners in martial arts too, receiving a gold in wushu and a silver in taekwondo.
Japan follows China with 13 medals in three sports -- swimming, fencing and wrestling: three gold, six silver and four bronze. Japanese swimmers collected nine medals: three gold, five silver and one bronze. Fencers from Japan won two bronze while the country took a silver and a bronze medal in wrestling.
South Korea is third on the medal table with nine medals, two gold, three silvers and four bronze in four sports. Korean taekwondokas did better and won two gold, one silver and one bronze medal. In fencing, the Koreans grasped one silver and two bronze medals while their share of medals in shooting and swimming was one apiece, a silver in shooting and a bronze in swimming.
Host nation Indonesia is fourth with two medals: one gold in taekwondo and one silver in wushu.
With one gold medal in shooting, two bronze in taekwondo and another bronze in wushu (total four medals), Taiwan is fifth.
India, Kazakhstan and Thailand share the sixth spot with one gold and one bronze medal each. India won gold in wrestling and bronze in shooting.
Kazakhstan’s gold is in fencing and the bronze in wrestling. Thailand’s two medals are in taekwondo.
Mongolia is ninth with one gold in wrestling and Iran is tenth with three medals: two silver in taekwondo and one bronze in wrestling.
The 18th edition of the Asian Games, underway in the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Palembang, will continue until September 2.
