SINGAPORE - National swimmer Yip Pin Xiu topped the women's S2 50m backstroke heats on Thursday (Sept 2) morning to qualify for the final, which is scheduled to take place at 6.01pm on the same day.

She clocked 1min 03.61sec at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre to finish quickest among nine swimmers across two heats, with Japan's Miyuki Yamada (1:09.44) coming in second and Mexico's Fabiola Ramirez (1:12.59) finishing third.

Having successfully retained her S2 100m backstroke title last week, Yip will be aiming to also defend her S2 50m backstroke crown.

The 29-year-old also holds the world record of 59.38sec in the event, which she set in the first 50m of the S2 100m backstroke final at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.