Hoe Yean and Co reach men's 4x200 freestyle final

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia were spared the blushes in swimming when the men's 4x200m freestyle quartet, led by Khiew Hoe Yan, advanced to the final after finishing fifth overall on Monday.

The Malaysian quartet of Hoe Yan, Ananda Lim, Jaydan Tan and Arvin Shaun Singh Chahal clocked 7:22.05s to place third in Heat 2 behind China (7:11.70) and Japan (7:13.02) at the Tokyo Aquatic Centre.

Although it wasn't fast enough to eclipse the national record held by Hoe Yean, Terence Ng, Ananda and Arvind, Malaysia will be pleased to race in the final later on Monday.

Swimmer Andrew Goh — Malaysia's best prospect of reaching an individual final — finished seventh in Heat 3, suffering an early exit on Monday.

Andrew clocked 1:03.50s to finish 23rd overall and missed the cut by distance in the men's 100m breaststroke.

His national record of 1:01.39 was set at the Malaysia Games last month.

Heat 3 winner Shin Ohashi of Japan (59.38) and second-placed South Korean Choi Dong Yeol (59.53) were the fastest qualifiers in the event, while third-placed Hong Kong swimmer Adam Mak Sai Ting (1:00.25) also made it to the final.

Meanwhile, Malaysia's hopes of having a representative in the men's 50m freestyle final were also dashed as Ananda and Tong Yu Jing faltered in the heats.

Ananda clocked 23.16 to finish seventh in the third heat, while Tong Yu Jing did not start the race.

Yin Chuen placed 24th among 48 competitors in the event.

South Korean swimmer Kim Young Beom recorded the fastest time of 21.71s, which was also a new Games record.

Matsumoto won Heat 3, while his time surpassed South Korean Ji Yu Chan's mark of 21.72 set at the 2022 Hangzhou Games.