Ridhima sizzles for Karnataka

Hosts Maharashtra dominate Day 1

Backstroker Ridhima Kumar stood out with a gutsy victory for Karnataka even as Maharashtra swimmers dominated the opening day of the 34th Sub-junior National Aquatic Championships on Wednesday.

The hosts’ swimmers were in top form as they notched up six gold, two silver and four bronze medals on a day that saw six meet records being set.

Karnataka, champions two years ago, had to be satisfied with two gold on the day, with Ridhima claiming the 50M backstroke and the girls’ 4x50M freestyle quartet coming out on tops, the former with a record to boot. Karnataka also won three silver and one bronze on the day.

Ridhima, after finishing with a silver in the Group IV 50M freestyle, hit back in fine fashion in the backstroke event. The Basavanagudi Aquatic Centre trainee took the top spot in 35.51 seconds, a new record. She bettered the previous best of 36.25, set by Damini Gowda in 2009.

Later in the day, Ridhima also featured in the Karnataka quartet that won the Group IV 4x50M freestyle relay, clocking 2:12.76. The other three swimmers were Aashna Mattur, Avni Vishwas and Rishika Mangale.

Utkarsh Gor led the Maharashtra charge in Group IV while Goa’s Shoan Ganguly ruled the pool in Group III. Ganguly, a former Karnataka swimmer who switched allegiance to Goa this season, triumphed in the 200M freestyle and 100M butterfly. Ganguly clinched the butterfly gold in 1:02.75, almost a second faster than the previous best of 1:03.65 set by Karnataka’s Sanjay CJ in 2014.

Gor won the Group IV, 50M backstroke clocking a new national best. The 10-year-old touched the pad in 34.30 seconds obliterating the previous best of 35.29 seconds set by Karnataka’s Srihari Natraj in 2011.
Among the girls, Maharashtra’s Sanjiti Saha and Assam’s Jahnabi Kashyap set national marks. In the Group III, 100M butterfly final, Sanjiti edged past her State-mate Palak Dhami in the final 10 metres to win the gold in 1:07.77. The 12-year-old erased the previous best of 1:09.72 set by Karnataka’s Sherlyn D in 2010.

Jahnabi had to see off a stiff challenge from Ridhima in the Group IV, 50M freestyle. Though the Assam swimmer trailed Ridhima for most of the race, she switched the gears in the final 15 metres and kicked harder to win the race in 30.88 seconds, just 0.3 seconds ahead of Ridhima.

Results: Boys: Group III: 200M freestyle: Shoan Ganguly (Goa) 2:08.48, 1; Mayank Solanki (Del) 2:15.81, 2; Krishna Pranav (TN) 2:18.19, 3.

50M breaststroke: SurabinReang (Trp) 35.06, 1; Suraj Chauhan (UP) 35.68, 2; Jashua Thomas (TN) and Md Rehan Mirza (Asm) 36.57, 3.

100M butterfly: Shoan Ganguly (Goa) 1:02.75 (NMR; Old: 1:03.65, Sanjay CJ, Kar, 2014) 1; Anubhab Parashar (Asm) 1:03.63, 2; Sahil Laskar (Ben) 1:03.84, 3.

Group IV: 50M freestyle: Utkarsh Gor (Mah) 30.55, 1; Basit Ahmed (Asm) 31.40, 2; Athouba Meitei (Mnp) 32.30, 3.

50M backstroke: Utkarsh Gor (Mah) 34.30 (NMR; Old: 35.29, Srihari Natraj, Kar, 2011) 1; Athouba Meitei (Mnp) 36.06, 2; Rishabh Das (Mah) 36.19, 3.

4x50M freestyle relay: Maharashtra 2:09.55, 1; Assam 2:10.01, 2; Delhi 2:14.23, 3.
Girls: Group III: 200M freestyle: Shakthi Balakrishnan (TN) 2:19.52, 1; Aanya Wala (Mah) 2:20.99, 2; Apeksha Fernandes (Mah) 2:21.54, 3.

50M breaststroke: Vedika Amin (Mah) 36.49, 1; Samara Chacko (Kar) 36.98, 2; Apeksha Fernandes (Mah) 37.85, 3.

100M butterfly: Sanjiti Saha (Mah) 1:07.77 (NMR; Old: 1:09.72, Sherlyn D, Kar, 2010), 1; Palak Dhami (Mah) 1:08.82, 2; Shakthi Balakrishnan (TN) 1:12.46, 3.

4x50M freestyle relay: Maharashtra 1:59.40 (NMR; Old: 2:11.03, Maharashtra, 2015) 1; Karnataka 2:02.52, 2; Assam 2:05.30, 3.

Group IV: 50M freestyle: Jahnabi Kashyap (Asm) 30.88 (NMR; Old: 31.72, Sanjiti Saha; Mah, 2015), 1; Ridhima Kumar (Kar) 30.91, 2; Haasini Prabhakar (TN) 32.65, 3.

50M backstroke: Ridhima Kumar (Kar) 35.51 (NMR; Old: 36.25, Damini Gowda, Kar, 2009) 1; Jahnabi Kashyap (Asm) 36.04, 2; Aashna Mattur (Kar) 37.43, 3.

4x50M freestyle relay: Karnataka 2:12.76, 1; Assam 2:17.08, 2; Maharashtra 2:18.62, 3.