Japan continued its long standing tradition of breaststroke with Yasuhiro Koseki and Ippei Watanabe claiming the top two spots at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. On Tuesday night, Koseki was able to hold off world record holder Watanabe for the 200 breaststroke gold medal with a 2:07.81 to Watanabe’s 2:07.82. Those two were heavily challenged by China’s Qin Haiyang (2:08.07) who ended up with the bronze.
Koseki got the upper-hand on Watanabe this time around as it was Watanabe who won the gold in Tokyo at the Pan Pacs earlier this month. Watanabe was a 2:07.75 there which will hold up as the silver medalist at the Virtual World Championships for the year. Koseki’s time here at the Asian Games will win him the mythical bronze as he moved ahead of the two Australians who were able to out-touch him at Pan Pacs.
Qin’s time would have put him sixth in the Virtual Worlds as the 200 breast it is extremely competitive in the world right now.
Notably absent was the defending Asian Games champion and reigning Olympic gold medalist Dmitriy Balandin of Kazakhstan.
China’s Yan Zibei (2:11.07), Kyrgyzstan’s Denis Petrashov (2:12.19), Korea’s Cho Sungjae (2:13.86), Macau’s Chao Man Hou (2:15.82) and Jordan’s Amor Al Wir (2:17.43) also swam in the final.
Japan now has 14 gold medals in the 200 breast at the Asian Games as Koseki joins the likes of Kosuke Kitajima (2002, 2006) and Naoya Tomita (2010) as recent winners in the event for Japan.
- Yasuhiro Koseki, JPN, 2:07.81
- Ippei Watanabe, JPN, 2:07.82
- Qin Haiyang, CHN, 2:08.07
- Yan Zibei, CHN, 2:11.07
- Denis Petrashov, KGZ, 2:12.19
- Cho Sungjae, KOR, 2:13.86
- Chao Man Hou, MAC, 2:15.82
- Amro Al Wir, JOR, 2:17.43
Virtual World Championships:
- Anton Chupkov, RUS, 2:06.80, Europeans
- Ippei Watanabe, JPN, 2:07.75, Pan Pacs
- Yasuhiro Koseki, JPN, 2:07.81, Asian Games
- Zac Stubblety-Cook, AUS, 2:07.89, Pan Pacs
- James Wilby, GBR, 2:08.05, Commonwealth Games
- Qin Haiyang, CHN, 2:08.07, Asian Games
- Matthew Wilson, AUS, 2:08.22, Pan Pacs
- Ross Murdoch, GBR, 2:08.32, Commonwealth Games
Congratulations