GUANGZHOU, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Japan's swimming star Ryosuke Irie claimed his second gold at Guangzhou Asian Games as he won the men's 100 meters backstroke here on Tuesday.
Irie, winner of the 200m backstroke at 2009 Rome Worlds, splashed away in the last 20m to clock 53.61 seconds, edging his teammate, world champion Junya Koga, by 0.27 second.
Chinese Sun Xiaolei took the bronze in 54.46.
"The time in the final wasn't of top level but our goal tonight was to win the gold," said Irie. "The gold is a morale-booster for the Japanese team."
Koga seemed upset after the race. "I am so disappointed," he said. "The first half was pretty good, but in the second I couldn't swim smoothly. I didn't swim the time I expected."
Sun was also unsatisfied with his result. "It's almost one second slower than my personal best," said the Chinese.
