(LEAD) (Asiad) Yoon Ji-hwan wins bronze in men's 50m backstroke swimming

(ATTN: ADDS photos, details, comments at bottom)
By Yoo Jee-ho

TOKYO, Sept. 21 (Yonhap) -- Yoon Ji-hwan won bronze in the men's 50-meter backstroke swimming event at the Asian Games on Monday, his first medal at the quadrennial event in his debut.

Yoon, 20, clocked 24.54 seconds for bronze at Tokyo Aquatics Centre in the Japanese capital. Xu Jiayu of China captured the gold medal with a new Asian Games record time of 24.04 seconds, beating his compatriot, Wang Zicheng, by 0.45 second.

This was the fourth swimming medal for South Korea at this year's Asian Games.

Swimming in Lane 5, Yoon posted a reaction time of 0.56 second, in the middle of the pack in the 10-man race. As Xu pulled away, it came down to Wang and Yoon for silver, with the South Korean coming up short by 0.05 second.

Yoon said he was not entirely satisfied with his bronze medal, even though he reached the podium in his Asian Games debut.

"I have been posting some really fast times since the national team trials last year, but I feel like I still have long ways to go," Yoon said, sounding dejected. "Overall, this was not a bad race. But I did not swim the way I am capable of, and I expected a lot more out of myself. I am disappointed with both my time and the color of this medal. At least I won a medal, and I will use this opportunity to get to the top of the podium in the future."