Chinese athlete Chen Yuanjiang (center) celebrates after winning gold in the men's 110m hurdles at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on September 27, 2026. Photo: VCG

China enjoyed a productive day in athletics at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Sunday, including Chen Yuanjiang winning the men's 110m hurdles, while female prodigy Chen Yujie took silver in the women's 200 meters and javelin thrower Yan Ziyi won gold by only a first-round try.

In the men's 110m hurdles, Chen Yuanjiang reclaimed the title for China with a winning time of 13.15 seconds, edging out Japan's Rachid Muratake, who ran 13.29. The victory restored China's hold on the event after the country lost the title at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023.

"I'm still very excited because Team China has reclaimed the gold medal in the 110m hurdles, which we lost in Hangzhou," he said.

He said the wet conditions and the pressure of competing in the host country added to the challenge.

"During this race, I just focused on myself and I had learned from the past few races," he added. "During the race, I certainly felt the pressures of the competition. I just concentrated on my technique."

Seventeen-year-old female sprinter Chen Yujie, who won the women's 100m title and set an Asian Games record two days earlier, clocked 22.93 seconds in the 200m final to finish behind Singapore's Shanti Pereira, who won with a season-best 22.78. India's Harita Bhadra took bronze with 23.20.

The silver completed a two-medal Asian Games debut for the 17-year-old, who also became the youngest Chinese athlete to win an individual athletics gold at the Games when she triumphed in the 100m in 11.06 seconds on Friday.

But Chen Yujie said she had hoped for more from her 200m performance.

"I originally hoped to run a season's best and a personal best, but I didn't perform at my best today," she told reporters. "After several rounds of the 100m and 200m, the physical consumption was very high, and I didn't adjust my physical reserves to the most ideal level before the race."

Chen Yujie, whose personal best is 22.84 seconds, said she would give her Asian Games performance an 80 out of 100.

"There are still some regrets in my heart. This can be regarded as a small test that fate gave me," she said. "The 100m gold medal was the best coming-of-age gift I could have received before becoming an adult, while the 200m silver medal was a lesson before adulthood."

Chen Yujie also rejected the idea that rain, a late schedule or other conditions were responsible for her performance.

"Rain and late rest are objective factors, but every athlete has to face the same conditions," she said. "I can't blame my mistakes on external conditions."

The teenager said one of her biggest lessons from Nagoya was the need to compete beyond her comfort zone.

"The biggest feeling is that there are always stronger people and there are always higher mountains," Chen Yujie said. "I can't stay in my comfort zone. I have to dare to break out of it and, on a bigger platform, try to challenge stronger opponents."

China also took bronze in the women's 100m hurdles, with Wu Yanni crossing the line in 13.12 seconds. Japan's Mako Fukube won gold with a time of 12.74 seconds, while compatriot Hitomi Nakajima took silver with 12.78. China's Lin Yuwei finished seventh.

Huang Yingying added another athletics gold in the women's long jump, producing a winning 6.55-meter effort. Fellow Chinese athlete Tan Mengyi took bronze with 6.46 meters, while India's Ancy Sojan won silver with 6.53 meters.

China's athletics campaign continued late Sunday with the women's javelin final, during which 18-year-old Chinese javelin thrower Yan Ziyi won gold with a first-round throw of 70.46 meters, setting up a new Asian Games record before opting out of her remaining five attempts.

In table tennis, Huang Youzheng and Lin Shidong defeated Japan's Tomokazu Harimoto and Sora Shinozuka 4-2 to win the men's doubles gold.

China also collected two individual dressage medals, with Yu Jiayi taking silver and Rao Jiayi bronze. South Korea's Nam Dong-heon won gold with 75.190 points, narrowly ahead of Yu's 75.050.