Defending champion Ryosuke Irie powered to victory in the men's 200-meter backstroke at the Asian Games on Thursday, as compatriot Kosuke Hagino, a four-time gold medalist at this meet, won bronze.
Olympic medalist Irie, who won the 100 backstroke on Sunday, claimed the 200 title for the third Asian Games in a row, clocking a meet record time of 1 minute, 53.26 seconds at Munhak Park Tae Hwan Acquatics Center.
China's Xu Jiayu clocked 1:55.05 for silver, while Hagino, who won his fourth gold medal in the men's 400 IM on Wednesday, was third in 1:56.36.
Also for Japan, Satomi Suzuki took the gold medal in the women's 50m breaststroke final, beating China's Suo Ran with a time of 31.34. He Yuzhe, also from China, was third.