Gold medalist Sun Yang of China poses during the awarding ceremony after the men's 200m freestyle final at the Gwangju 2019 FINA World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, July 23, 2019. (Xinhua/Xia Yifang)

GWANGJU, South Korea, July 23 (Xinhua) -- China's triple Olympic champion Sun Yang won the men's 200m freestyle final, snatching his second gold medal at the 18th FINA World Championships here on Tuesday.

Sun clocked 1:44.93 to touch home first in the final. He was followed by Katsuhiro Matsumoto of Japan, who took the silver medal in 1:45.22.

Martin Malyutin of Russia and Duncan Scott of Britain tied for the bronze with a time of 1:45.63.

Dana Rapsys of Lithuania completed the course first, but he was disqualified for a false start.

"It is the first time for me to experience such a thing, also the luckiest time for me. But I think the luck came after I have done what I should do," said the winner Sun.

"After the 800m freestyle heats in the morning, my muscle is not in a good condition. And I'm the only one from the 800 freestyle event to compete in tonight's race," said Sun.

It was the second gold medal for Sun in Gwangju after he claimed his fourth consecutive world title in the men's 400 freestyle on Sunday.

Sun retained his world title in the 200m free, after taking gold in the event in Budapest two years ago. He will hunt for his third gold medal of the championships in the men's 800m freestyle final on Wednesday evening.

"I want to use the races to stimulate myself and to improve myself. Tonight's result is my best for the past two years. I think, my result and my spirits deserve respect from my rivals," said Sun.

With the two more golds, Sun became the second-highest world title holder with 11 individual gold medals in the Worlds. Michael Phelps of the United States leads the table with 15 golds from individual events.