SEIZING a last chance to upstage China at the Asian Games, South Korea did the unthinkable — upsetting the heavily favored Chinese 102-100 in overtime for the men’s basketball gold medal.

　　The South Koreans almost beat the Chinese in women’s basketball too yesterday. The host country still came out with four of the final day’s seven gold medals.

　　At the same time the men’s basketball team was coming from behind to force overtime against China, Lee Bong-ju, the 2001 Boston marathon winner, won his country’s fourth consecutive Asian Games gold medal in the sport. He finished 3 minutes, 43 seconds ahead of Japan’s Koji Shimizu.

　　Two badminton doubles pairs won. Ra Kyung-min and Lee Kyung-won beat China’s Gao Leng and Huang Sui 11-8, 11-7 in the women’s final, and Lee Dong-soo and Yoo Yong-sung defeated Thailand’s Pramote Teerawiwatana and Tesana Panvisavas 15-11, 15-6 in the men’s.

　　The results cut only slightly into China’s huge margin in the overall gold medals race.

　　Indonesia, long a power in badminton, finally captured one gold in the sport on the games’ final day. Former world No. 1 Taufik Hiday beat South Korea’s Lee Hyun-Il 15-7, 15-9 in the men’s singles final.

　　The last time China lost an Asian Games men’s basketball final was against South Korea in 1982.

　　This year’s team led 84-71 with slightly more than three minutes left. Lee Kyu-sup’s basket in the final seconds of regulation time tied the game at 90.

　　The Koreans led throughout the five-minute overtime and China’s Li Nan missed a desperation shot on the buzzer.

　　Yao Ming, the NBA’s No. 1 draft pick, scored 23 points for China.

　　China’s other NBA-bound center, the hulky Menke Bateer, only played 4:48 minutes, all in the second quarter, and he scored only four points.

　　In the women’s basketball final, 1998 runner-up China looked like an easy winner when it led 63-53 after three quarters. Then South Korea shot ahead 74-67 with a 21-4 run over the last quarter’s first 5 1/2 minutes, and its players were wildly celebrating with high-fives.

　　But the Chinese bounced back and Sui Feifei helped clinch the 80-76 victory by hitting a fast-break layup and two freethrows in the final three minutes.

　　Meanwhile, women’s 1,500-meter gold medalist Sunita Rani and top officials of her Indian team went before the Olympic Council of Asia’s medical committee Monday to deny she had taken a banned substance.

　　Rani tested positive for Nandrolone, which assists muscle-building, in urine samples taken after the 1,500 and 5,000 finals.

　　Results of secondary tests were expected within the next two days, said medical committee chairman Yoshio Kuroda.

　　If the positive tests are confirmed, Rani faces being stripped of her gold from the 1,500 and bronze from the 5,000.

　　(SD-Agencies)