China scoops Asiad golds in men's, women's trampoline

Runaway leaders China secured two gold medals in the men's and women's trampoline finals at the 2018 Asian Games on Thursday, taking the country's fourth consecutive clean sweep of Asiad trampoline gold medals.

China's Liu Lingling clinched the Asiad title for the women's trampoline with a score of 55.270 points, while Dong Dong, who triumphed at the 2010 and 2014 Asiads, claimed his third consecutive gold in the men's trampoline with a score of 59.925.

24-year-old Liu, who had been injured in 2013, 2016 and 2017, said she was very happy with her achievement.

"I have reached one of my targets after going through so much suffering. My next target will be standing on the podium of the Tokyo Olympics in 2020."

Liu added that she was lucky rather than outstanding in this event, claiming that other athletes had also performed well.

Liu's junior teammate, Zhu Shouli, took bronze with 53.615, just 0.12 points ahead of Japan's Mori Hikaru.

29-year-old Dong, who made his international debut in 2006, collected gold at the 2012 Olympics after having claimed bronze in 2008. Four years on, he also collected a silver medal at the 2016 the Rio games.

As a relative veteran of the discipline, Dong said he was enjoying the process of competing for enjoyment rather than focusing on winning gold.

"As a senior trampolinist, age is a weakness for me, meaning there will be fewer opportunities for me to participate at an international level."

However, Dong said he is still enthusiastic for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. "It is not for the medal, but the experience of taking part."

Dong's teammate Gao Lei claimed silver with a score of 59.220, 1.76 points ahead of Kazakhstan's Pirmammad Aliyev.

China has taken golds in both the men's and women's trampoline ever since the category was first introduced into the Asian Games in 2006.