World champions Qin and Zhang light up Asian Games pool

HANGZHOU, China: World-record holder Qin Haiyang barrelled to the Asian Games 200m breaststroke title on Thursday (Sep 28) as Chinese teammate Zhang Yufei edged Siobhan Haughey in a blockbuster showdown to clinch her fifth gold in Hangzhou.

It capped another dominant night in the pool for the hosts, whose five golds bolstered their tally to 24 from 34 so far on day five.

South Korea's Baek In-chul and Kim Woo-min also got in on the act.

Baek claimed the men's 50m butterfly gold while Kim was crowned 800m freestyle champion.

Qin shattered Australian Zac Stubblety-Cook's historical 200m best at the July world championships in Fukuoka on his way to the gold medal with a blistering 2:05.48.

Despite his home fans roaring him on he couldn't better it, touching in 2:07.03 - a new Games record and the fourth quickest this year.

It was more than enough to easily beat teammate Dong Zhihao and Japan's Ippei Watanabe.

"I was hoping to go under 2:07. I wasn't far off, but I guess this means I still relaxed a little," Qin said, adding that he planned to head to Europe next to get ready for the Paris Olympics.

"We need to get used to the time zone and the environment on the European circuit so we are prepared for Paris 2024."

Qin went on to complete an unprecedented sweep of the breaststroke races in Fukuoka to announce himself as the man to beat at the Olympics next year.

He had already secured the 100m title in Hangzhou, won silver in the 200m medley and helped steer China close to two relay world records, with the 50m breaststroke still to come on Friday.

Hong Kong's Haughey, one of the world's top freestylers, clinched the Asiad 100m and 200m titles in blistering fashion in recent days.

The 50m is not her favoured event and she succumbed to