(LEAD) (Asiad) Lee Ju-ho grabs silver in men's 200m backstroke swimming

TOKYO, Sept. 25 (Yonhap) -- Lee Ju-ho seized silver in the men's 200-meter backstroke swimming at the Asian Games on Friday for his second straight medal in the event.

Lee touched the pad in 1:56.58 at Tokyo Aquatics Centre in the Japanese capital on the final day of the swimming competition. The South Korean finished 0.16 second back of the winner, Kodai Nishiono of Japan.

Xu Jiayu of China took the bronze in 1:56.73.

Lee reached the 50m mark in second place and stayed there the rest of the way. It was Xu leading the way early, but Lee passed him over the final stretch -- though his late push was not enough against Nishiono.

This was Lee's third medal in Tokyo, following bronze medals in the men's 100m backstroke and the men's 4x100m medley relay.

Lee fell short of his personal best and national record time of 1:55.34. He now has nine Asian Games medals but still no gold.

"I did my best in the final, but I was not happy with my time," Lee said. "I did not come here to win silver. I have been working so hard to grab gold in the 200m, and I felt my best time would be good enough here. I think this silver medal is a disappointing outcome for me."

Now 31, Lee said he will try to reach the finals at next year's world championships and then qualify for the 2028 Olympics.

"I think 1:56 will not be nearly enough for a spot in the final at the worlds, and I will try to get back into the 1:55 range," Lee said. "I am feeling confident I can keep improving my time over the next couple of years until the Olympics. And when I get to that point, I will think about the next Asian Games (in 2030).

"I really wanted to win gold here," Lee continued. "I obviously know doing so is really difficult, but I desperately wanted the 200m gold."