GUANGZHOU, China: Japan and North Korea put China and South Korea to the sword at the Asian Games Monday, inflicting demoralizing defeats as the football tournament kicked into gear. The Japanese humbled their bitter rivals China 3-0, while 10-man North Korea outlasted neighbor South Korea 1-0 to secure three precious points. Host China is the perennial under-achievers of regional football and it was outplayed before a large crowd at the Tianhe Stadium, although many left early. The writing was on the wall when Ryohei Yamazaki bundled the ball over the line after 10 minutes, with China immediately put on the back foot. They held on till half-time before Kensuke Nagai picked up a loose ball in the penalty area and buried it in the net on 58 minutes. China was stunned and Daisuke Suzuki put the game beyond its reach six minutes later to seal an impressive win for Japan. The defeat leaves China with a big job ahead to qualify from Group A after Malaysia earlier beat Kyrgyzstan 2-1. The game kicked-off with Japanese and Chinese spectators separated amid a simmering diplomatic row over Japan's arrest of a Chinese trawler captain and a history of bitter rivalry between fans. But the match passed off peacefully with only a smattering of Japanese in attendance. North Korea also scored an impressive win at a mostly empty Yuexiu Stadium. Ri Kwang-Chon got the decisive goal, heading home nine minutes before half-time, with Hong Myung-Bo's men unable to find a reply despite playing against 10 men for the final 25 minutes. The Palestinian territories and Jordan are also in their group and they played out a 0-0 draw. Only the top two and four of the best third-placed teams from the six groups advance to the round of 16. Malaysia, meanwhile, got its Games off to the best possible start with a hard-fought 2-1 win against Kyrgyzstan, while Vietnam upset Bahrain 3-1. Elsewhere, Iran beat Turkmenistan 4-1. The 24-team Asiad tournament kicked off on Sunday, five days before the formal opening of the 16th Asian Games. – Agence France
