Xu Jiayu, who turned 23 years on the first day of the Asian Games 2018 on Friday said the gold medal was a birthday gift for him.
The Chinese swimmer bagged a gold medal after clocking in at 52.34 seconds in the finals, edging out Asian Games 2014 gold medalist Irie Ryosuke of Japan in the second place with a time of 52.53 seconds.
Xu Jiayu`s time record of 52.34 seconds is the same as that of Irie Ryosuke at the Asian games 2014 to snatch a gold medal.
Meanwhile, Lee Juho of South Korea clocked in at 54.52 seconds, Kaneko Masaki of Japan 54.61 seconds, Li Guangyuan of China 55.01 seconds, Le Nguyen Paul of Vietnam 55.72 seconds, Srihari Nataraj of India 56.19 seconds and I Gede Siman Sudartawa of Indonesia 58.82 seconds.
Having made a success in the men`s 100-meter backstroke, Xu Jiayu is set to compete in the men`s 50-meter backstroke, the men`s 200-meter breaststroke and two relay events.
Xi Jiayu has set himself the target of earning five gold medals from all the events and aims to break the Asian Games record of 51.86 seconds in the men`s 100-meter backstroke.
He is the first Chinese swimmer to win the men`s 100-meter backstroke in the world swimming championship.
Reporting by Dyah Dwi Astuti
Editing by Suharto
Pewarta: Antara
Editor: Andi Abdussalam
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