JAKARTA -- A Japanese pair won the silver medal in artistic swimming on Tuesday in Jakarta at the Asian Games to add to the country's medal tally, which had stood at 136 as of Monday, when it captured 14 medals, including a gold in karate and a silver in badminton.
In artistic swimming, Yukiko Inui and Megumu Yoshida took the silver in the women's duet, while China's Jiang Tingting and Jiang Wenwen won gold with 186.5101 in their free and technical routines. The Japanese pair earned a combined 182.3363 points.
Ryutaro Araga on Monday won gold in the men's 84-kilogram class in karate kumite (sparring) event, and Ayaka Takahashi and Misaki Matsutomo finished second in women's badminton doubles.
Mirai Ishimoto the same day won gold in women's masters stepladder in bowling.
Araga grabs 2nd straight title
Araga earned his second consecutive gold in the same class at the Asian Games.
"I feel a sense of relief right now," Araga said.
In the final, Araga and Ahmad Almesfer of Kuwait finished tied at 1-1. Karate rules stipulate that the competitor who scores the first point will be determined the winner in the event of a tie.
During this year's Asian Games, Araga said he was not in top form, feeling difficulty in distancing himself from his opponents.
He said he tried hard not to allow a point to his opponent.
Araga's strategy worked well, and he was able to aggressively try to score in the early stages of the match.
After scoring a point, he became conservative, taking a relentlessly defensive approach but not trying to score.
In the women's kumite 50-kilogram class, Miho Miyahara earned the bronze.
The karate competitions finished Monday, and Japan came away with six medals, four of them gold.
"We made it to our minimum goal," Japan karate coach Ko Hayashi said.
"It was good for the members of the team to compete amid loud cheering for their Indonesian opponents."
Japan falls short in badminton
Takahashi and Matsutomo, who won gold at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, lost to Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan of China 22-20, 22-20 in the final.
The Japanese pair also finished second at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.
"We played a better match this time compared to our performance four years ago," Takahashi said.
However, she added, "We failed to play aggressively against opponents who are in really good form."
"We need to face this kind of tough competition again and again," Matsutomo said.
In women's badminton singles, Akane Yamaguchi took the bronze, while Kenta Nishimoto settled for the same in men's singles.
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