China's prodigy Yu clinches first major title from Asian Games

Thirteen-year-old Chinese swimmer Yu Zidi made a sound Asian Games debut on Sunday to secure her first title from major events, as China claimed six gold, one silver and two bronze medals on the opening day of swimming competition at the Games.

Yu dominated the women's 200m butterfly in two minutes and 5.08 seconds, setting a new Games record. Fellow Chinese Chang Mohan took silver in 2:08.44.

"I hope I can swim even faster," Yu said with a smile. "I believe I will perform better next time."

The teenager said she still had room for improvement, particularly in her technique. "I need to lower my head earlier and improve the movement of my legs," she said.

For Yu, the gold marked the beginning of her Asian Games journey. She became the youngest swimming world championships medalist in history last year at the age of 12, when she helped China win bronze in the women's 4x200m freestyle relay in Singapore. She is also one of the youngest athletes to be nominated for the Laureus World Sports Awards.

China also won the women's 4x100m freestyle relay in a Games record time of 3:33.10. Zhang Yufei said she was "very happy" with the result and felt she had produced a peak-level performance in her leg.

Returning to the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, where she had competed at the Tokyo Olympic Games, Zhang said she felt a rare sense of familiarity and comfort. "I really enjoyed it and felt completely immersed," she said.

Tang Qianting defended her women's 50m breaststroke title in 29.45 seconds, improving the Games record she set in the morning. "I think I can still do better," Tang said, setting her sights on breaking the 29-second barrier.

Olympic champion Pan Zhanle also defended his men's 100m freestyle title in 47.61 seconds. Although the result fell short of his expectations, Pan said he had regained some confidence after a difficult period. "I don't care as much about winning or losing as I used to. I just want to enjoy the competition and leave no regrets," he said.

The opening day also saw Xu Jiayu successfully defend his men's 100m backstroke title in an event record of 51.98 seconds, while Li Bingjie retained her women's 1,500m freestyle title in 15:53.52.

In the men's 200m individual medley, five-time Asian Games veteran Wang Shun took bronze as Japan's Tomoyuki Matsushita won gold.

For Wang, returning to the Tokyo venue brought back memories of his winning Olympic competition five years ago.

"It felt like I was making up for the regret of having no spectators five years ago," Wang said. "I really enjoyed it and was completely immersed in it."

For Yu, the first day of competition marked the beginning of what promises to be a busy Asian Games campaign, with two more individual events still to come.