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China Make Golden Start on 1st Day of Asian Games

Gold medallists China's Zou Jiaqi and Qiu Xiuping pose for a photo during a medal ceremony after the women's light-weight double sculls final event of rowing during the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou in China's eastern Zhejiang province on September 24, 2023. (Photo by JUNG YEON-JE / AFP)
Gold medallists China's Zou Jiaqi and Qiu Xiuping pose for a photo during a medal ceremony after the women's light-weight double sculls final event of rowing during the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou in China's eastern Zhejiang province on September 24, 2023. (Photo by JUNG YEON-JE / AFP)
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China Make Golden Start on 1st Day of Asian Games

Gold medallists China's Zou Jiaqi and Qiu Xiuping pose for a photo during a medal ceremony after the women's light-weight double sculls final event of rowing during the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou in China's eastern Zhejiang province on September 24, 2023. (Photo by JUNG YEON-JE / AFP)
Gold medallists China's Zou Jiaqi and Qiu Xiuping pose for a photo during a medal ceremony after the women's light-weight double sculls final event of rowing during the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou in China's eastern Zhejiang province on September 24, 2023. (Photo by JUNG YEON-JE / AFP)

Hosts China swept the first gold medals at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Sunday in a statement of intent on day one of the region's answer to the Olympics.

China claimed the first gold when Zou Jiaqi and Qiu Xiuping dominated the women's lightweight double sculls rowing to kick off a medal rush for the home nation.

The Chinese pair finished in 7min 6.78sec, with Uzbekistan's Luizakhon Islamova and Malika Tagmativa taking silver -- almost 10 seconds behind.

Indonesia's Chelsea Corputty and Rahma Mutiara Putri won bronze.

The hosts soon doubled up on the rowing lake as the men's lightweight double sculls gold was won by Fan Junjie and Sun Man, who finished five seconds clear of India's Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh.

China won six of the seven golds at the Fuyang Water Sports Centre rowing venue on Sunday morning with only Hong Kong's Lam San-tung and Wong Wai-chun getting in on the party by winning the men's pairs.

China's shooters also claimed the women's 10m team air rifle.

The hosts' rip-roaring start to the 19th Asian Games, which end on October 8, continued as Sun Peiyuan won the first martial arts gold.

Sun successfully defended his men's changquan wushu title from 2018, ahead of Indonesia's Edgar Xavier Marvelo with Macau's Song Chi-kuan third.

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US Open Doubles Champion Max Purcell Suspended for Anti-doping Breach

FILE - Max Purcell returns a shot to Tommy Paul, of the United States, during a second round match of the US Open tennis championships, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)
FILE - Max Purcell returns a shot to Tommy Paul, of the United States, during a second round match of the US Open tennis championships, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)
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US Open Doubles Champion Max Purcell Suspended for Anti-doping Breach

FILE - Max Purcell returns a shot to Tommy Paul, of the United States, during a second round match of the US Open tennis championships, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)
FILE - Max Purcell returns a shot to Tommy Paul, of the United States, during a second round match of the US Open tennis championships, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)

Two-time Grand Slam winning doubles player Max Purcell has entered a voluntary provisional suspension under tennis’ anti-doping rules.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency announced the sanction in a statement on Monday after the 26-year-old Australian admitted to violating Article 2.2 of the Tennis Anti-Doping Program “relating to the use of a Prohibited Method”.
Purcell posted a statement on Instagram saying he had “unknowingly received an IV infusion of vitamins above the allowable limit of 100 ml.”
Purcell said he had told the medical clinic that the infusion needed to be below 100 ml because he was a professional athlete, but that the medical records he received back showed that the IV had been above that level, The Associated Press said.
“This news was devastating to me because I pride myself on being an athlete who always makes sure that everything is WADA safe,” Purcell wrote. “I volunteered this information to the ITIA and have been as transparent as possible in trying to put this whole situation behind me.”
The ITIA said the suspension came into effect on 12 Dec., and time served under provisional suspension will be credited against any future sanction. The length of time of the voluntary suspension was not specified by the ITIA.
“During the provisional suspension, Purcell is prohibited from playing in, coaching at, or attending any tennis event authorized or sanctioned by the members of the ITIA (ATP, ITF, WTA, Tennis Australia, Fédération Française de Tennis, Wimbledon and USTA) or any national association," the ITIA statement read.
Purcell, with compatriot Jordan Thompson, won the U.S. Open in September and won Wimbledon with another Australian, Matthew Ebden, in 2022. He is currently ranked No. 12 in doubles.
He also finished as a runner-up in the Australian Open doubles final twice, in 2020 and 2022.
Purcell, ranked No. 105 in singles, was not listed on the Australian Open entry lists released earlier this month and did not receive a wildcard or feature on the qualifying entries.
The ITIA did not say whether Purcell's absence from the draw of the tournament starting Jan. 12. was due to the sanction.
The latest doping violation in tennis comes just weeks after five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek accepted a one-month suspension after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine.
Top-ranked men's player Jannik Sinner, winner of two Grand Slams this year, was exonerated by the ITIA after twice testing positive for a trace amount of an anabolic steroid in March with the World Anti-Doping Agency appealing the ruling.