Ning Zetao steers China to 4x100m medley relay gold at Asiad

INCHEON, South Korea, Sept. 26  -- Promising star Ning Zetao helped China to claim the Asiad title of men's 4x100m medley relay on Friday night at Munhak Park Tae-hwan Aquatic Center.

Ning clocked 46.91 seconds in the last leg of the relay as the Chinese team came from behind to win gold in 3 minutes 31.37 seconds, a new Asian Games record.

Ryosuke Irie set up a lead for Japan in the first leg of backstroke, hitting the wall 0.73 seconds ahead of China's Xu Jiayu. In the following two legs of breaststroke and butterfly, the Japanese managed to hold onto the lead.

China was 0.86 seconds behind Japan when Ning dived into the pool for the freestyle leg. In his first 50 meters, he slashed the deficit to 0.51 seconds. With an impressive charge in the last 15 meters, he overtook Japan's Shinri Shioura to touch home first.

"I am very excited because the Chinese team had never won in 4x100m medley relay before. Today, we made history. I'm very happy," Ning said.

Meanwhile, Ning played down the fact that his result equaled the world record.

"I don't really care about my own time, what is important is the final result of the team," said the 21-year-old.

Ning is the second most decorated athlete at these Games with a total of four golds in 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay and 4x100m medley relay.

He won the 100m freestyle with a new Asian record of 47.70 seconds, which has been recognized by FINA as the world's No.3 fastest result this year.