WORLD NEWS: XU DANLU, WANG SHUN POST STUNNING TIMES AT ASIAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS Xu now in top 10 in 800 free globally

RENANG INDONESIA-DUBAI, UAE, November 19. CHINA continued to shine at the Asian swimming championships, as two Chinese teenagers stole the show in long course competition.

Xu Danlu, who broke onto the international scene earlier this year as a 13-year-old prodigy, swam an 8:22.24 in the 800 freestyle, vaulting herself from 18th to sixth in the world. The time would have placed fourth at the Olympics and puts her on the all-time performers list in 16th. Shao Yiwen was well back from Xu in second place, posting an 8:37.40. Japan's Yukimi Moriyama was third in 8:45.32.

Wang Shun, who had a subpar Olympic Games as an 18-year-old, made up for it in Dubai with a quick 200 IM winning time of 1:58.66. Had he swum that time in London, he would have made the final and placed seventh. Wang swam a 2:00.85 in preliminaries at the Olympics. Zhang Fenglin, diversifying himself from just backstroke events, was second with a 1:59.26, a top-20 time in the world. Japan's Keita Sunama took third with a 2:01.34. 

Xu Jiayu was victorious in the men's 100 backstroke, posting a time of 54.24, besting Kunpeng Ouyang's meet record of 54.60. Takeshi Kawamoto of Japan was second with a 55.77, and Rainer Ng of Singapore got to the finish in third with a 57.14.

Bai Anqi of China won the women's 200 backstroke with a 2:11.38, while Vietnam's Anh Vien Nguyen Thi took second with a 2:12.47. Third place went to Marie Kamimura with a 2:12.73.

Hye Ra Choi of Singapore broke the Chinese winning streak with a win in the women's 200 IM, posting a time of 2:14.49. She used strong breaststroke and freestyle legs to beat China's Li Jiaxing's 2:15.37, with Japan's Chihiro Igarashi placing third with a 2:15.42.

Lu Zhiwu won the men's 50 freestyle with a22.60, just off the meet record of 22.55. Teammate Shi Yang placed second with a 22.91, and Japan's Toru Maruyama was third with a 23.09.

Zhao Jin made it 3-for-3 in breaststroke events, winning the women's 50 breast with a 32.18. Macedonia's On Kei Lei was second in 32.58, and Japan's Misaki Sekiguchi placed third with a 33.09.

China won the men's 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:21.71, ahead of Japan's 3:23.09 and Hong Kong's 3:24.10. China's women's team won the 400 medley relay with a 4:05.70 using a respectable foursome of Zhao Jing (1:00.44), Zhao Jin (1:09.30), Lu Ying (1:00.63) and Tang Yi (55.33). Japan was a distant second with a 4:10.32 and Hong Kong placed third with a 4:14.57.