Asian Games, Day Six Finals: Zhang Yufei Claims Two Gold; Zhang Zhanshuo Caps Stellar Meet with 400 Freestyle Title
For five days, the Asian Games have offered top-flight performances. Of course, a world record from Shin Ohashi in the 200-meter breaststroke has been the highlight, but that effort has been complemented by several Asian records and a number of national-record marks. Will the sixth and final evening of competition at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre produce a few more fireworks?
Following gold medals in the 200 freestyle, 800 freestyle and 1500 freestyle, China’s Zhang Zhanshuo will attack the 400 freestyle on Friday night, and a run at the world record is not out of the question. The 19-year-old has been terrific throughout the meet, an Asian standard of 1:43.49 in the 200 freestyle his top showing. Zhang enters the 400 freestyle with a best of 3:41.55, but he cut his best in the 200 free by a second and he improved his top time in the 800 free by two seconds.
The last session of the meet starts with the women’s 50 butterfly and men’s 50 breaststroke, followed by the women’s 800 freestyle and men’s 200 backstroke. The men’s 400 freestyle and men’s 200 butterfly are next, while the women’s 400 medley relay will close out the six-day competition.
Here’s an event-by-event recap of the Day Six finals:
Women’s 50 Butterfly
Defending champion Zhang Yufei of China retained her title and led a gold-silver finish for her nation when she touched the wall in a winning mark of 25.41. The veteran and multi-time Olympic medalist was followed to the wall by Wu Qingfeng, who was the champion of the 50 freestyle earlier in the meet. Wu produced a swim of 25.62 for the silver medal while Japan’s Rikako Ikee reached the podium with a bronze-medal effort of 25.97.
Men’s 50 Breaststroke
One night after watching his world record in the 200 breaststroke go down, China’s Qin Haiyang repeated as the gold medalist in the 50 breaststroke, going 26.68 for a comfortable margin over countryman Liu Junjie, who eked under the 27-second barrier with a time of 26.99. Japan’s Shin Ohashi, who blastd a world record of 2:04.83 in the 200 breaststroke on Thursday, took bronze in the sprint, clocking 27.01.
Women’s 800 Freestyle
China’s Li Bingjie collected the 16th Asian Games medal of her sterling career when she prevailed in the 800 freestyle. Li recorded a time of 8:24.02 and complemented her previous wins in Tokyo in the 400 freestyle and 1500 freestyle. Li has medaled in the 800 freestyle at three consecutive Asian Games, as she was the silver medalist in the event in 2018 and won in 2023.
Singapore’s Gan Ching Hwee was the silver medalist behind a national-record time of 8:26.25. Gan took three seconds off her former Sinaporean record and touched ahead of bronze medalist Ichika Kajimoto of Japan, who turned in a time of 8:27.37.
Men’s 200 Backstroke
A bunched-up field saw four swimmers finish in the 1:56 range, with Japan’s Kodai Nishiono emerging as the champion, thanks to a swim of 1:56.42. That performance enabled Nishiono to edge Korea’s Lee Juho, who produced an outing of 1:56.58. The champion of the 50 backstroke and 100 backstroke, China’s Xu Jiayu reached the medals stand with a bronze-medal effort of 1:56.73.
Men’s 400 Freestyle
China’s Zhang Zhanshuo put the finishing touches on a spectacular meet, as he won the 400 freestyle for his fourth individual title of the week. Turning in a Games-record swim of 3:41.28, good for a personal best, Zhang ascended to the top step of the podium. It’s a position he also took following the 200 freestyle, 800 freestyle and 1500 freestyle. In the 400 free, he took the lead by the 150-meter turn and was never threatened, as the silver medal went to Japan’s Kazushi Imafuku in 3:45.55. China’s Fei Liwei rounded out the medals in 3:45.78.
Men’s 200 Butterfly
Wang Kuan-hung of Taipei, best known as Eddie Wang, pulled out a triumph in the 200 butterfly when he covered his four laps in 1:55.05, fast enough to fend off China’s Xu Fang (1:55.65). Wang led from wire to wire and improved a place from the 2023 edition of the Asian Games, where he was the silver medalist in the 200 fly. The bronze medal was secured by Korea’s Kim Minseop in 1:55.94.
Women’s 400 Medley Relay
China had no trouble winning gold in the final event of the meet, as the quartet of Peng Xuwei, Tang Qianting, Zhang Yufei and Yu Yiting put together a Games record of 3:54.55. That time was three seconds clear of the 3:57.64 of Japan, while Korea was third in 4:00.67. Peng led off with a 59.20 backstroke split and was followed by Tang’s 1:05.74 mark for the breaststroke. Zhang checked in with a butterfly split of 56.30 and Yu closed with a freestyle anchor of 53.31.