Eel-loving schoolboy Yuki Kurihara, 11, won an Asian Games gold medal in Japan on Saturday, more weightlifting world records were set and organisers admitted they were "not satisfied" with ticket sales after swaths of unsold seats were seen at the athletics.
Kurihara, believed to be the youngest competitor at the Games in Aichi-Nagoya, romped to victory in the eSports game Puyo Puyo Champions 10-2 after going 1-0 down in the final.
"To be completely honest, I felt a bit embarrassed, so I couldn't really show my expressions or change my face much," Kurihara said after blowing away a series of opponents, some three times his age.
Kurihara, who says he eats eel to prepare for contests, bowed slightly as he received his gold medal and gave a small wave.
"I'm really happy. The gold medal is really beautiful, shiny and heavy," he said.
Asian Games organisers admitted ticket sales for some sports had been slow after the main athletics stadium saw a sparse crowd for the second night running.
The Games said that less than 60 percent of tickets had been snapped up for eight sports, including football and the showpiece closing ceremony.
"We are not satisfied," Satoshi Murate, secretary-general of the Games organising committee, said in response to a question from AFP about spectator numbers.
Some tickets given to sponsors and other stakeholders had not been used, he said.
"Seats have been allocated but some people can't come. As a result, some competitions do have noticeable empty seats, and we find that regrettable."
The Games also apologised for transport and accommodation mix-ups that left some athletes stranded for hours.
"Whatever the cause (the organising committee) is responsible for providing the service and I sincerely apologise for the mistakes," Murate said.
Six more world records were set in weightlifting, taking the Games total to 15 in four days, as North Korea's Ri Won Ju won the men's 70kg for his country's fifth gold out of eight disciplines so far.
Japan's Masanori Miyamoto set a new snatch mark of 154kg but had to settle for silver when Ri lifted a world record 198kg in the clean and jerk for a 349kg total, also a new record.
In the men's 75kg, Indonesia's Rahmat Erawan Abdullah won a second consecutive Asian Games gold after setting a clean and jerk (206kg) and total (366kg) world record.
Abdullah won Olympic bronze in Tokyo and Asian Games gold in Hangzhou three years ago, both at 73kg.
North Korea's Ri Chong Song also won Hangzhou gold, but at the heavier 81kg bodyweight, and he began Saturday by setting a world record in the snatch of 162kg.
But he failed with his two final lifts in the clean and jerk and was relegated to bronze on 357kg behind Thailand's Olympic silver medallist Weeraphon Wichuma, who had a 365kg total.
Bahrain's Salwa Naser set an Asian Games record on a rain-sodden athletics track as she won the women's 400m gold by a large distance.
Naser clocked 49.20sec, more than three seconds clear of Iran's Zahra Zarei Manoujan (53.38). India's Prachi Choudary completed the podium.
In the men's 400m, Thailand's Joshua Atkinson's late dip gave him gold in a thrilling finish as he pipped the UAE's Sulaiman Abdulrahman.
Atkinson clocked 44.90sec, nine hundredths in front of Abdulrahman, with Japan's Joseph Nakajima taking bronze.
Bahrain's Nelly Korir broke the Asian Games record to win the women's 1,500m in 4:04.50.
In the women's marathon, Bahrain's Shitaye Habte finally won an Asian Games gold, 16 years after winning silver in the 10,000m at the Guangzhou Games.
The mother of three held off Ciren Cuomu of China and Japan's Mikuni Yada to cross the line in 2:27.31.
"Maybe it is the time to stop," Habte said.
"I am 36 years old. But my target for my last competition is the (2027) world championships.
"I have three babies and my second, he said, 'Mama, don't run'. He wants me at home. But now he will be very happy."
Japan were beaten 75-70 in the women's basketball fans, breaking the hearts of the home fans packed into the 17,000-capacity Nagoya's Aichi International Arena.
A second Games competitor also failed a doping test, the International Testing Agency said.
Dayanch Keletliyev of Turkmenistan returned a positive test for the prohibited substance meldonium in an out-of-competition test on September 20.
He lost in the karate kumite round of 32 the next day.
dh/pbt
