China collects another Asian record, four more titles at Asian Games

TOKYO -- China had four more gold medals in its swimming haul at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Tuesday, with Zhang Zhanshuo claiming his second title here, Peng Xuwei setting an Asian record in women's 200m backstroke and Li Bingjie successfully defending her title in women's 400m free.

China also secured the men's 4x100m medley relay victory.

Zhang, 19, stormed to victory in the men's 1,500m freestyle in 14 minutes 42.42 seconds, finishing ahead of Japan's Tabuchi Kaito in 14:45.99 and teammate Imafuku Kazushi in 14:54.37.

It was Zhang's second gold of the Games. A day earlier, he anchored China's men's 4x200m freestyle relay team to victory, producing a 1:42.92 split and overtaking Japan in the final 50 meters as China clocked an Asian record of 7:00.17.

"I just don't want to lose," Zhang said after completing what he called the toughest challenge of the Games. "I think that will give me more motivation and make me look forward to the races ahead."

Peng defended her women's 200m backstroke title in 2:05.77 to refresh the previous 16-year Asian record set in Guangzhou Games. Teammate Sun Mingxia took silver in 2:08.65, while Japan's Rio Shirai claimed bronze in 2:08.70.

"2:06.46 (the previous record) has always been a guiding light for me, encouraging me to keep improving and serving as a goal I have pursued," Peng said. "I hope this new record can inspire more Asian backstroke swimmers to challenge me and push each other forward."

China added another gold in the women's 400m freestyle, where Li Bingjie retained her Asian Games title in 4:02.71. Li said she believed there was still room for improvement.

"I think my potential lies in my ability to finish strong. When I raced against Katie Ledecky and other strong swimmers, I felt I could really tap into my potential when I had someone to chase down in the latter stage of the race," she said.

In the women's 100m freestyle, 200m free winner Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong, China claimed her second gold in 52.45, while China's Yu Yiting secured silver in 53.21 and teammate Cheng Yujie took bronze in 53.47.

Japan grabbed the sole swimming gold in the men's 400m individual medley, as Kojima Yumeki touched first in a new Games record of 4:07.02, followed by compatriot Matsushita Tomoyuki in 4:09.64. China's Wang Shun took bronze in 4:14.59.

For Wang, a five-time Asian Games veteran, the bronze added another medal to his durable career. "Every Games have left me with many wonderful memories," Wang said, adding that he hoped more young Chinese athletes would compete on the world stage and achieve better results.

The night ended with a relay gold for China. In the men's 4x100m medley relay, China held off a late challenge from Japan to win in 3:27.89. Japan cut the gap to just 0.29 seconds with 350 meters to go, but the Chinese quartet of Xu Jiayu, Dong Zhihao, Xu Fang and Pan Zhanle held firm through the final turn to touch first. South Korea took the bronze.

Asked about the pressure as Japan closed in, backstroke veteran Xu said he never lost faith in his teammates. "Although we have young swimmers on the team, we've been working together for four years. So we trust each other," he said.

Looking ahead to his next relay on Thursday, 100m freestyle winner Pan acknowledged that it would be "a big challenge," with South Korea expected to pose a strong challenge.