Deng Lijuan (left) of China and Rajiah Sallsabillah of Indonesia compete during the women's speed climbing relay at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Oct 4, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

HANGZHOU - After settling for two silvers on the opening day of sport climbing, China outran Indonesia in both men's and women's speed relay finals to clinch a golden double at the Hangzhou Asian Games here on Wednesday.

The victories also marked the first time for China to win an Asiad title.

In the men's event, the Chinese trio of Wu Peng, Wang Xinshang and Zhang Liang eliminated Thailand and Singapore before meeting the defending champion Indonesia in the final. The long-time rivals went neck-and-neck before the Indonesians gradually gained an advantage by the end of the second climb.

Zhang Liang of China competes during the men's speed climbing relay at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Oct 4, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

Zhang Liang and Kiromal Katibin, the last climbers for Team China and Team Indonesia respectively, pushed the hardest as they could to the top of the wall, but Indonesia had then been disqualified for a false start committed by Katibin.

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"I didn't see that and just kept climbing. I went up as fast as I could," Zhang recalled after the race. "This is a team win, we are not affected by the loss yesterday and focus on what needs to be done on the wall," he added.

Katibin, who also missed out on the podium on Tuesday, said that he was so eager for a win but lost the focus when starting off.

The women's relay also saw a comeback from China as Deng Lijuan, the silver medalist of the women's speed, stormed up to overtake her rival in the second climb. The hosts grabbed their second gold after Niu Di, the third climber of China, flew high in the air and clocked the win in 20.925 seconds.

Niu Di of China celebrates winning the women's speed climbing relay at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Oct 4, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

"I was so nervous before this race as I made mistakes yesterday," said Niu. "Our team is great, and I managed to hold off the comeback from the last Indonesian girl, going all out there to top the wall," she added.

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Despite their sweet victories, Chinese coach Zhong Qixin, the silver medalist at the Jakarta Asiad, said the Indonesian team is more competitive than China. "But in speed climbing, the fastest may not always win. We are more stable today," he said.

South Korea took bronze in both men's and women's relays.