HONG KONG, December 9. AFTER setting an Asian record during relays yesterday, Japan's Takuro Fujii returned this evening with a double in long course meter competition at the East Asian Games.
Japan's Ryo Tateishi opened the night with a victorious time of 27.84 in the men's 50 breast. He finished just half-a-second back of Yuki Honda's Asian record of 27.43 set in July. Honda wound up second in 28.04, while China's Wang Shuai took third in 28.14.
China's Gao Chang touched out teammate Zhao Jing, 59.77 to 59.97, for the women's 100 back title. The smashed the previous meet record of 1:01.42 set by Japan's Mai Nakamura way back in 1997. Japan's Miyuki Takemura finished third in 1:00.86.
Japan's Takuro Fujii won the men's 100 free in 48.76 after breaking the Asian record yesterday as a leadoff during the men's 400 free relay. Yesterday, Fujii clocked a 48.49 to break the tie he had with China's Chen Zuo with matching 48.73s for the continental standard. Japan's Yoshihiro Okumura took second in 49.16, while China's Lu Zhiwu placed third in 49.69.
China's Wang Xinyu topped the women's 400 free in 4:11.84, while Japane's Kazuki Wakanami took second in 4:13.62. Hong Kong's Hoi Shun Au completed the podium in 4:14.58.
In an exciting finish, Fujii earned his second victory of the night with a 51.51-51.54 touchout triumph over Kohei Kawamoto. Both beat the meet record of 52.70 set by China's Zhou Jiawei back in 2005. Zhou (52.04) and teammate Shi Feng (52.28) also cleared the previous mark with third and fourth-place finishes.
China's Sun Ye checked in with a 2:22.59 for the women's 200 breast win. She wiped out the meet record of 2:25.33 set by China's Qi Hui in 2001. Korea's Darae Jeong (2:24.90) and Seul Ki Jung (2:25.10) placed second and third.
Japan's Ryosuke Irie took a run at the Asian record in the men's 100 back with a 52.76, but fell short of Junya Koga's mark of 52.24 from September. Korea's Seonkwan Park took second in 54.66, while China's He Jianbin placed third in 55.61. Park lowered the Korean record of 54.99 set by Min Sung at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
China's Tang Yi, Zheng Rongrong, Zhang Jiaqi and Li Zhesi won the women's 400 free relay in 3:39.75. That swim clipped China's meet record of 3:40.79 set back in 2005.