China savours 8-ball pool, snooker and climbing gold at World Games
Double joy for host nation in sport climbing, while Xiao Guodong adds snooker gold to heyball pool triumph for Zhang Taiyi
Cue sports and climbing maintained China’s dominant showing at the World Games as further golds were added to the host nation’s tally on Thursday.
Zhang Taiyi made history in Chengdu when he became the Games’ first mixed heyball pool champion. Fellow cueist Xiao Guodong overcame Michael Georgiou 2-1 for snooker gold.
Sport climbing’s Deng Lijuan, an Olympic silver medallist last year, won a close all-Chinese women’s speed single final against Qin Yumei. In the men’s speed single final, the 18-year-old Chu Shouhong took gold by beating the United States’ Olympic bronze medallist Sam Watson.
Heyball, also known as Chinese 8-ball, was making its Games debut, and Zhang, 23, treated the locals to more home success with a 5-3 victory in the final over 42-year-old Jason Theron of South Africa.
Xiao, snooker’s world No 13, then held his nerve to prevail in a last-frame decider against Cyprus’s Georgiou.