HANGZHOU, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Reza Alipour Shenazandifard upset several favorites to defend the men's speed climbing title, while Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi grabbed the women's speed gold for Indonesia on the opening day of sport climbing events at the Hangzhou Asiad.
Shenazandifard defeated China's Zhong Qixin five years ago in Jakarta, claiming the first men's speed climbing gold in the history of the Asian Games. The 29-year-old Iranian entered this edition of the Games as an underdog, as world record holder Veddriq Leonardo, world championships runner-up Long Jinbao of China, and his fellow Wu Peng, winner at the World Cup in Wujiang, China, seemed to be the among the favorites to snatch the gold.
