NEW DELHI:
Karnataka swimmer
Srihari Natraj
was the star in the pool on the opening day of swimming at the
Khelo India School Games
, shaving off 0.09 seconds from his own national record in the 100m boys' backstroke event (56.90s) and added a second gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay with his teammates. Srihari, who had aimed at a 56.50s finish, managed to close in on his target where he holds all the national records in backstroke.
Karnataka's dominance in the pool was only stopped by Goa's Xavier Michael D'Souza whose gold in the boys' butterfly event was his second medal, adding to the silver he won in the 100m backstroke behind Srihari and Andhra Pradesh's Lohith M, who was also successful in staving off the challenge posted by Karnataka's swimmers by winning gold in the 200m breaststroke event.
The girls' 100m butterfly event turned out to be a productive one for Delhi as Firdoush Kayamkhani and
Aastha Choudhury
claimed a one-two for their state, while bronze was shared between Priyanga Pugazharasu of Tamil Nadu and Poojitha G Murthy of Karnataka.
With six golds and three bronze medals, Karnataka dominated the proceedings on the opening day, carrying on from their rich medal haul in last year's National Championships in Bhopal. Srihari, their star swimmer, will be looking to add to his medal collection in three more events in the coming days.
D'Souza, however, was pleased with his performance, looking to add to his medal tally as well. "I would like to grab medals in 50m and 200m backstroke as well as in the 100m freestyle," said the Goa lad.
Lohith M stressed on the importance of making a strong impression on the first day of the meet. "It's exciting to know that I was able to make a mark on the first day itself. To be someone standing up to a state sweeping the gold medals makes me feel awesome."
Results Swimming (all finals):Boys:400m freestyle: 1. Mohit Venkatesh (Karnataka) 4:18.10; 2. Zidane Iqbal Sayed (Goa) 4:18.43; 3. Saif Chandan Ali KS (Karnataka) 4:19.10.
200m breaststroke: 1. M Lohit (Andhra Pradesh) 2:25.99; 2. Swadesh Mondal (Delhi) 2:26.70; 3. Maibam
Mangalsana Meitei
(Manipur) 2:30.38.
100m backstroke: 1. Srihari Nataraj (Karnataka) 56.90 seconds (New National Record; Old: 56.99, Srihari Nataraj, Asian Age Group Championship, Tashkent, 2017); 2. Xavier Michael D'Souza (Goa) 1:00.03; 3. Vedant Bapna (Maharashtra) 1:01.31.
100m butterfly: 1. Xavier Michael D'Souza (Goa) 57.85 seconds; 2. Neel Roy (Maharashtra) 58.42; 3. Adithya D (Tamil Nadu) 58.56.
4x100m freestyle: 1. Karnataka (Prassiddha Krishna, Aditya Bopanna, Saif Chandan Ali and Srihari Natataj) 3:4411; 2. Tamil Nadu 3:44.94; 3. Maharashtra 3:48.32.
Girls:400m freestyle: 1. Khushi Dinesh (Karnataka) 4:49.52; 2. Prachi Tokas (Delhi) 4:41.55; 3. Poojitha G Murthy (Karnataka) 4:46.83.
200m breaststroke: 1. Saloni Dalal (Karnataka) 2:46.57; 2. Kenisha Gupta (Maharashtra) 2:48.50; 3. Aaliyah Singh (Delhi) 2:51.75.
100m backstroke: 1. Suvana C Bhaskar (Karnataka) 1:08.23; 2. Khushi Jain (Haryana) 1:09.58; 3. Prtyasa Ray (Odisha) 1:10.05.
100m butterfly: 1. Firdoush Kayamkhani (Delhi) 1:08.15; 2. Aastha Choudhury (Delhi) 1:09.68; 3. Poojitha G Murthy (Karnataka) and Priyanga Pugazharasu (Tamil Nadu) 1:09.94.
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