Fukuoka: Tunisia’s Ahmed Hafnaoui won the men’s 1,500m freestyle title at swimming’s world championships on Sunday. Hafnaoui came home in 14min, 31.54sec to finish ahead of American Bobby Finke on 14:31.59 and Australia’s Sam Short on 14:37.28. Hafnaoui’s time was less than a second off the world record of 14:31.02 set by China’s Sun Yang in 2012. “Bobby is so fast in the end of the race, he just pushed us,” said Hafnaoui. “It was so close to the world record. I enjoyed the race and thanks Bobby for pushing me.” Short led for most of the race but faded toward the end to leave Hafnaoui and Finke going head-to-head. “I think I deserve it,” said Hafnaoui.