China celebrated over a dozen gold medals across different sports at the Asian Games on Sunday, but there were also disappointments and drama for the hosts as large flag-wielding crowds watched on their national day.

The drama came in the packed Olympic stadium again, a day after an athletics official suffered a broken leg and serious bleeding after being hit by a misthrown hammer. This time it followed a false start in the women's 100m hurdles final.

Both China's Wu Yanni and India's Jyothi Yarraji were contacted by officials. But Yarraji was outraged and adamant she had not set off early. Wu complained that her opponent had moved first.

Heated discussions went on for several minutes on the inside of the track, while the other athletes tried to stay calm. One, Lin Yuwei of China, even sat down and removed her spikes.

Eventually, amidst an almost farcical delay, the athletes were invited to watch the replay where it could clearly be seen that Wu made the false start. But Wu kept protesting. Eventually, an official presented a compromise.

"You can run if you want to but it will be under review," the official said.

They rushed to their blocks, Lin quickly put her spikes back on. Lin won the race with a time of 12.74 seconds while Wu (12.91) and Yarraji (13.04) were second and third, respectively.

But the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) immediately filed a protest and within minutes, Wu was disqualified under Technical Rule 16.8 and Yarraji's bronze was upgraded to silver.

AFI senior vice-president and legendary long jumper Anju Bobby George termed it as an "unbelievable drama" rarely seen. AFI president Adille Sumariwalla said the matter would be taken up at the higher level.

With inputs from Reuters, PTI