South Korean swimming hero Park Tae-hwan qualified for the Asiad men's 200ｍ freestyle final Sunday, putting himself a step closer to a third straight gold in the continental competition.

Racing in the fourth lane in Heat 3, Park clocked at 1:50.29, tops in his heat and fourth best overall among 26 swimmers. The top eight swimmers from the heats will compete in the final, scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Sunday.

The swimming races at this year's Asiad are held at a brand new arena bearing Park's name: the Munhak Park Tae-hwan Aquatics Center.

Park's chief rival, Sun Yang of China, won Heat 4 with the day's fastest time so far of 1:48.90.

Kosuke Hagino of Japan had the third-best time in the heats at 1:48.99, followed by another Japanese competitor, Takeshi Matsuda, at 1:50.20.

Sun is the Asian record holder with 1:44.47 set in 2013. Park owns the Asian Games record in the distance at 1:44.80. For 2014, Park has the second-fastest time in the world at 1:45.25, while Sun is ranked eighth at 1:46.04. (Yonhap)