FINA World Cup: Ye wins 200m medley

Beijing: London Olympic double gold medal winner Ye Shiwen claimed the women`s 200 meter individual medley gold medal at the short course Beijing World Cup swimming here. Beijing Olympic champion Liu Zige finished fifth in the women`s 100m butterfly.

The 16-year-old Ye, who won the 200m and 400m medley gold and renewed the 200m medley world record at the London Games, touched the wall first in two minutes and 6.10 seconds here Friday, reports Xinhua. Zsuzsanna Jakabos of Hungary was second at 2:08.22, while her compatriot Katinka Hosszu was the third in 2:08.35. "I feel good," said Ye. "Although it was not my best result, which was within 2:05, it was still good. "I am about 85 percent of my peak form," Ye said, who finished third in the heat earlier in the day. "I didn`t feel good in the morning, but the final was OK. "I hope I can be on my top level at the World Championships in Turkey this December," she added. Hosszu brought her country a gold medal in the 800m freestyle in 8:21.49. She also took part in the 200m free and 200m backstroke, but failed to stand on the podium. "I feel rather tired," she said. "But I wanted to do something different, so I decided to do my best in every event." It seemed that Zige was still struggling with her form as the 23-year-old only took a fifth finish in the women`s 100m fly at 58.87. Inge Dekker of the Netherlands won the gold in 57.62. However, Liu, who finished eighth at the 200m fly at the London Games, won the mixed 4X50m medley relay with her teammates Tang Yi, Cheng Feiyi and Li Xiayan. Chinese teenage girl Shao Yiwen claimed the women`s 200m freestyle gold, while Yang Zhixian won the men`s 400m individual medley. China also won the gold medals in the women`s 50m freestyle and 200m backstroke. Australia was the second biggest winner with four gold medals, while New Zealand pocketed two, and the Netherlands, Hungary, Russia, Japan, Kenya, and the US claimed one each. The Beijing World Cup is the sixth stop of the FINA short course World Cup 2012. IANS