Sun, Ye win signature events at China National Swimming

Olympic and world champion Sun Yang dominated the men's 1,500-meter freestyle at the Chinese National Swimming Championships here on Thursday, while Ye Shiwen also grabbed the women's 400m medley title.

Sun, who also won the 200m, 400m and 800m titles at the Nationals, clocked 15:00.73 to win the 1,500m free. However, the time was not satisfying for the world record holder, and only ranked fifth in the world.

Australia's 18-year-old Mack Horton led the global ranks with 14:44.09, and he will be Sun's big rival at Kazan Worlds.

Hunan swimmer Wang Kecheng came second in 15:11.73, while Bayi's Qiao Zhongyi ranked third in 15:14.10.

Double Olympic champion Ye of Zhejiang clinched the women's 400m medley title in 4:36.58, fourth fastest time so far this year. Shanghai's Zhou Min trailed in 4:44.36, while Guangdong's Wang Xinya was third in 4:44.60.

In the men's 400m medley, Hunan's Huang Chaosheng prevailed over his teammate Yang Zhixian, for a 4:12.89 to 4:13.19 victory. Huang ranked third in the world so far the year, while Yang placed fourth.

Also on Thursday, Zhejiang's Xu Jiayu won his third individual title at the Nationals with a men's 50m back gold in 25.15. Guangdong's Liu Xiang claimed the women's 50m free in 25.00, while Jiangsu's Shi Jinglin clinched the women's 50m breast in 31.37.

Team Zhejiang won the men's 4x100m medley relay in 3:38.14, while team Shanghai topped the women's 4x100m medley relay in 4:04.49. Endi