Swimming: China´s Xu wins men´s 100m backstroke world title

BUDAPEST: China´s Xu Jiayu won men´s 100m backstroke gold at the world aquatics championships on Tuesday.

The 21-year-old Olympic silver medallist clocked 52.44 seconds with American duo Matt Grevers earning silver, at 0.04sec back, and Olympic champion Ryan Murphy taking bronze at 0.15.

"My main aim is to break the world record," admitted Xu, who fell short of Murphy´s record of 51.85secs set at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics last year.

"In the semi-final, I was more relaxed and thinking clearly, but I was a bit nervous in the final.

"I´m a little disappointed not to break it, but of course I´m happy with the win."