Athens Olympian Vladislav Polyakov brought Kazakhstan the first swimming gold in Doha Asian Games when he snapped the men's 50m breaststroke title in the most hotly- competed and world-class race of the night in the aquatic center.

Vladislav Polyakov of Kazakhstan shows the gold medal he won in the final of the Men's 50m breaststroke at the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, Sunday Dec. 3, 2006. [AP]

Polyakov, fifth place finisher in Athens Olympic Games, pulled off the title in 28.29 seconds before double Olympic champion Kosuke Kitajima.

Kitajima, 100m and 200m breaststroke winner in Athens, bagged silver with nine hundredths of a second behind.

The 50m event was newly added to the Asian Games program and Kitajima will defend his 100m and 200m crowns after he eased to the 200m gold with a then world record time of 2:09.97.

Wang Haibo from China came third in 28.41.