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ROME, Italy, July 28. THE first semifinal heat had the top two times in the men's 200 fly as Japan's Takeshi Matsuda paced qualifying at the FINA World Championships.
Matsuda touched out Michael Phelps, 1:53.35 to 1:53.48, in the first semifinal to earn the top seed heading into tomorrow's final.
Poland's Pawel Korzeniowski won the second semifinal with a 1:53.75 to stand third overall, while Austria's Dinko Jukic qualified fourth overall in 1:54.42.
Brazil's Kaio Almeida claimed fifth in 1:54.50, while Great Britain's Michael Rock (1:54.58) and South Africa's Sebastien Rousseau (1:54.71) touched sixth and seventh.
Tyler Clary of the U.S. snagged the final transfer spot by a slim margin with an eighth-place time of 1:54.75.