Russia’s Vladimir Morozov reacts after winning the Men’s 100m Freestyle final yesterday.
Russian star Vladimir Morozov yesterday dazzled a packed Hamad Aquatic Centre with two more victories, signing off from the FINA World Cup Doha 2019 - the final meet of the series - with three gold medals.
Ukraine’s Mykhailo Romanchuk also thrilled the fans with a new World Cup record on the penultimate day that also saw South African star Chad Le Clos and Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu sealing victories.
Morozov, who is set to lift the men’s overall World Cup trophy today, first completed a clean sweep of all 7 titles in 50m backstroke, winning the event in 24.75m. The Russian then claimed victory in 100m freestyle to complete his ‘target’ of three gold medals in Doha.
“That’s it, my World Cup is over. I am very happy with my performance this year. My best moment of this World Cup will come when I will lift the (overall) trophy,” said Morozov.
In men’s 1500m freestyle fastest heats, Romanchuk set a new World Cup record, winning the race in 14:51.61 to surpass Gregorio Paltrinieri’s (ITA) record of 14:55.06, he produced in Moscow 2015. Jan Micka (CZE) and Gergely Gyurta took silver and bronze medals in the event.
“The plan was to break a World Cup record. It’s so amazing that I have done it. I love this country and amazing support here in Doha,” said Romanchuk.
Also yesterday, Hosszu completed clean sweep of seven titles in 400 IM. ‘The Iron Lady’ claimed the victory after picking up pace in the last 200m, leaving her team-mate Zsuzsanna Jakabos behind to win gold with a time of 4:37.39. Jakabos got silver medal for completing the task in 4:40.19 while Seoyeong Kim (KOR) won bronze in 4:40.23.
“It was a fun race. I am happy to win all the titles in this event. It’s always nice to race in front of Hungarian fans present here. I am having a good time in Doha,” said the Hungarian star.
Le Clos lived up to expectations of his fans in Doha, securing the 200m butterfly title in 1:57.66 - his second gold medal here - after his 100m butterfly triumph on the first day.
“That was a hard race. I was nervous but did well in the end to finish with a win. I love the support of fans here and didn’t want to disappoint them,” said Le Clos.
Meanwhile, Jakabos also picked up a victory yesterday, winning the women’s 200m butterfly race, while Dutchwoman Kira Toussaint was the winner in women’s 100m backstroke.
Gold medal in women’s 50m butterfly went to Denmark’s Jeanette Ottesen, who swam 26.06 to defeat Australia’s Cate Campbell, who had to settle for a silver medal.
The men’s 200m IM title went to Japan’s Keita Sunama, who clocked 1:59.28 for victory. He was followed by Germany’s Philip Heintz (2:00.15) and Hungary’s David Verraszto (2:01.43).
Japan got their second gold through Yasuhiro Koseki, who defeated Brazilian star Felipe Lima in the men’s 50m breaststroke. Koseki clocked 27.07 while Lima finished in 27.11 to take silver. Dutchman Arno
Kamminga (27.12) claimed the bronze medal.
However, Jhennifer Conceicao, scooped gold medal for Brazil after she prevailed in the women’s 100m breaststroke, touching the wall in 1:08.28. Russia’s Vitalina Simonova and Eszter Bekesi of Hungary won silver and bronze medals.
Australia were on top in the mixed 4x100m freestyle, the final race of the day.
Al Obaidly fastest among Qatari swimmers in heats
Meanwhile, in yesterday morning’s heats, Qatar’s Abdulaziz Al Obaidly was quickest among his team-mates, finishing the job in 2:10.66 in the men’s 200m individual medley. Mohamed Mahmoud was also impressive with a time of 2:13.54. Omar Ashraf Abouelela, 14 achieved respectable time of 2:22.26 while Ahmad Samara (2:28.61) was the other Qatari swimmer to take part in heats of men’s 200m individual medley.
Young talent Yousef Al Khulaifi also delighted home fans with a time of 32.70 in men’s 50m breaststroke heat, which was dominated by Lima in 27.04. Another home swimmer, Mohamed Abdelrahman was seen in action in the men’s 1500m freestyle heats, clearing the distance 17:13.46. Antonio Djakovic (SUI) was fastest with 15:42.65.
Twelve more finals will be held on the last day of the final meet today, following which the overall winners and clusters 3 champions will be announced.
