SANYA, China, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese high jumper Zhang Hao took the silver medal in the men's high jump at the 2026 Asian Beach Games here on Friday.
Leonard Grospe of the Philippines tied with Zhang on 2.05m, but won the title on countback after having made fewer attempts. Yeh Po-Ting of Chinese Taipei, who also jumped 2.05m, tied with Zhang for second place.
Zhang, bronze medalist at China's 15th National Games, cleared 1.80m, 1.90m and 2.00m on his first attempt. He cleared 2.05m after two attempts but failed to conquer 2.10m.
"In adapting to compete on the beach, I changed my run-up. However, when I marked 2.00m, I tried to clear 2.05m by using my old run-up, which cost me my first attempt. Then I changed my run-up again and succeeded," Zhang told Xinhua.
"I chose not to skip 1.80m because I wanted to get more accustomed to the sand. On a normal synthetic track I would choose a higher starting height, but today I played it safe because my ankle was quite painful. My goal was to finish the event smoothly and avoid injury," Zhang added.
Ha Thi Thuy Hang of Vietnam clinched the women's long jump title with a leap of 6.16m. Ishara Wikramasinha Arachchi of Sri Lanka took second place with 5.87m, with her compatriot Ishani Galabadage ranking third with 5.83m. China's Chen Liwen and Li Zhishuang finished fifth and tenth respectively.
Elsewhere, all Chinese sprinters, including Huang Youchao, Liu Yang, Xu Jialu and Li He, qualified for men's and women's 60m final scheduled for Saturday, when the women's shot put and men's long jump finals will also be held.
