Chinese swimmers dominate at Asian championships

Olympic champions Sun and Tang add two to their tally as China haul 17 of 30 medals on offer.

Before the event started Sun Yang thought he would struggle but he was 12 seconds ahead of his compatriot Hao Yun in the 400m freestyle.
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DUBAI // Olympic star Sun Yang picked up his second gold medal of the Asian swimming championships last night as the Chinese dominated for a second successive day.

Sun's victory in the 400m freestyle was one of nine golds won by China in 10 races - to go with eight out of 10 on the opening day.

The only swimmer to break China's lock on the competition was Kazuki Kohinata of Japan who won the men's 100m breaststroke.

The Olympic bronze medallist Tang Yi also picked up her second gold, edging out compatriot Wang Haibing in the 50m free, while the Olympic silver medallist Lu Ying took gold in the women's 50m butterfly.

But Tang fell just short in a bid for a third gold, losing out to the two-time Olympic medallist Pang Jiaying also of China in the women's 200m freestyle.

"I am very happy. I like it here," said Tang, who won two golds and a bronze at the 2010 world championships in Dubai.

"I am happy with my times so far and I have enjoyed racing again."

China also set two more records for a total of five, as Zhang Fenglin won the men's 200m backstroke in a championship time of one minute, 56.38 seconds.

The men's 4x200m free relay team won gold in a championship time of 7:21.32, .62 second faster than the 2009 record also set by China.

Sun, who collected two golds, a silver and a bronze in London and broke his own 1,500m world record, won the 400 in a championship record 3:42.49, 12 seconds faster than his closest rival Hao Yun of China.

China team spokesman Lu Yifan said: "We brought a team with a combination of youth and experience to give the young ones good competition in the build-up to Rio [for the 2016 Olympics] - so we have a big focus on them, giving them a taste of international competition and experience in controlling their performance.

"We are not focused on medals so much, more on performances, and so far they have been OK but could always be better."

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