GUANGZHOU, China (Kyodo) Junya Koga outpaced Ryosuke Irie to win the men's 50-meter backstroke in a 1-2 finish for the Japanese swimmers at the Asian Games on Thursday.

Koga, the Asian record-holder, touched the wall in 25.08 seconds, 0.08 seconds ahead of Irie. China's Cheng Feiyi was third in 25.30 at Aoti Aquatics Centre.

Naoya Tomita took the gold in the men's 200 breaststroke in the absence of injury-hit Kosuke Kitajima with a time of 2 minutes, 10.36 seconds.