China won only one individual gold in the pool last year in Budapest but they doubled that tally in the evening’s first two races in the southern Japanese city of Fukuoka.
Qin Haiyang got things started with victory in the men’s 100m breaststroke, taking advantage of dominant Olympic champion Adam Peaty’s absence from the competition.
Zhang Yufei followed that up with gold in the women’s 100m butterfly, beating Olympic champion Maggie MacNeil into second place in a field chock-full of talent.
“Last year the whole team didn’t perform very well, and we worked hard and tried to be ready for these championships,” Zhang said.
“We learned from last year. It was an opportunity for us. “Hopefully we can get more gold medals in the next six days,” she added. Qin came home in 57.69sec to finish ahead of Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi, American Nic Fink and Arno Kamminga of the Netherlands, who all tied for second on 58.72.
Britain’s Peaty, the world record-holder and twice Olympic champion in the event, skipped the competition to focus on his mental health.
Qin set his sights on winning more gold in the 50m and 200m breaststroke.
“Tonight went the way I thought it would,” the 24-year-old said.
“This is just the start for me because I still have the 50 and the 200 to come.”
Zhang, the silver medallist at the Tokyo Olympics, finished in 56.12sec, ahead of MacNeil on 56.45 and American Torri Huske on 56.61.
Australia’s Emma McKeon was fourth in a star-studded line-up, and Zhang said her opponents “gave me a lot of strength”.
“I hope in the future, especially next year at the Paris Olympics, we can race together to make the 100m butterfly the best race,” she said.
China did not have things their own way in the Fukuoka pool, with Kate Douglass claiming the United States’ first gold of the championships in the women’s 200m individual medley.
Douglass reeled in teammate Alex Walsh over the last 100m to finish in a time of 2min, 07.17sec.
Walsh was second on 2:07.97, ahead of China’s Yu Yiting on 2:08.74.
“I’m really happy with that race,” Douglass said.
“I really just wanted to get a gold for Team USA tonight and I’m so happy I did that.”
Italy’s Thomas Ceccon claimed the other gold medal of the night in the men’s 50m butterfly.
Ceccon, the defending champion in the 100m backstroke, came home in a time of 22.68sec to finish ahead of Portugal’s Diogo de Matos Ribeiro on 22.80 and France’s Maxime Grousset on 22.82.
He went into the butterfly final just 20 minutes after winning his 100m backstroke semi-final.
“It’s really hard for me mentally and physically but today I did it,” Ceccon said.
“I was not preparing for this 50m final, just for the 100m backstroke semi-final, and I just tried to pull through.”
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