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Day 10 brought some joy for Hong Kong, whose women secured a 3-1 win in the team table tennis against Romania, putting them into the semi-finals against Japan and giving them a shot at a medal. Hopes for more Hong Kong medals this week come with Grace Lau in the kata karate and Sarah Lee, who leads the track cyclists.

Beyond Hong Kong there is the tantalising battle at the top of the medal table between China, the US, Japan and the Russian Olympic Committee. There were 18 golds on offer today, and China separated themselves from the pack by winning five.

There were weightlifting golds for Wang Zhouyu (87kg) and Li Wenwen (87kg+), while Liu Yang was triumphant in the men’s gymnastics rings. The Chinese women's sprint team took gold after breaking the world record in qualifying, and shooter Zhang Changhong then set a world record in the men’s 25-metre three-position rifle final, finishing with 466 points.

Reporting by Paul Ryding and Jonathan White (in Tokyo), Patrick Blennerhassett, Andrew McNicol, Josh Ball, Nazvi Careem and Nick Atkin.