(LEAD) (Asiad) Cho Sung-jae races to bronze in men's breaststroke swimming

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By Yoo Jee-ho

TOKYO, Sept. 24 (Yonhap) -- Cho Sung-jae earned bronze in the men's 200-meter breaststroke swimming at the Asian Games on Thursday, becoming only the second South Korean to reach the podium in this event.

Cho clocked 2:08.76 for third place, as Shin Ohashi of Japan set a world record with a time of 2:04.83 and Denis Petrashov of Kyrgyzstan won silver in 2:08.67 at Tokyo Aquatics Centre.

Cho touched the 50m pad in sixth place and moved to fifth place at the halfway mark. He was in fourth with 50m to go, trailing Ippei Watanabe of Japan by 0.67 second. But Cho found another gear and covered the last 50m in 33.30 seconds, the third-fastest split in the 10-man final.

Cho held off Adam Mak Sai-ting of Hong Kong by 0.01 second.

Cho joins Choi Kyu-woong, a joint silver medalist in 2010, as the only South Koreans to win an Asiad medal in the men's 200m breaststroke.

Cho, 25, earned his first individual medal in his third Asian Games appearance.

"It has been almost six years since I last got into the 2:08 range," Cho said. "I was so desperate for a medal here and I think it showed."

He said he was pleased with how he managed his race.

"I think it all went according to my plan," he said. "I didn't fall too far back over the final stretch."

Cho admitted he felt Ohashi, only 17, was going to be so good that he never even thought about catching him.

"I think everyone was just gunning for second place," Cho said. "I had no idea he was going to get the world record, thought. I am just happy that I won a medal in this race."