Akash, Dhanush sparkle

Akash Aradhya and Dhanush Babu of Karnataka put on a dazzling display of skating to clinch gold in the Rink Race IV - 500M above 16 and 14-16 years boys’ events  respectively on the fourth day of the 49th National Speed Roller Skating Championships here on Friday.

Akash came up with a stirring performance to nail the gold. The 18-year-old from Banmayas College, Mysore was teary-eyed after notching up his first individual gold at the Nationals. “There were a lot of expectations from this race after I struggled in the other events. I am glad that I was able to make the State proud,’’ he said. K Stephen Paul of Andhra Pradesh grabbed the silver while Gujarat’s Jainam Hemeshbhai Shah bagged the bronze.

Dhanush mesmerised the milling spectators at the venue with his stunning burst in the final 75 metres to pocket the gold. The 17-year-old from Carmel PU College was over the moon after his effort. “I did not expect to reach the final, this was a real surprise,’’ he remarked. Delhi’s Sarpreet Singh followed Dhanush with the silver while Akash Raju of Karnataka took the bronze.

In the Rink Race II - 500M 12-14 girls’ event, Karnataka’s Shreeraksha KS claimed the gold in 54.62 seconds.

Results: Rink Race II - 500M: Boys: Above 16 years: Sushant Kadam (Mah) 53.99s, 1; Abhinav Surabhi (AP) 52.22, 2; M Deepak (TN) 52.81, 3.  14-16: M Karthik (TN) 51.65, 1; Kartik Kumar Narayana (Mah) 52.41, 2; Vinay Dembla (Har) 51.81, 3.

12-14: Amogha S (Kar) 53.41, 1; K Vishnu Vardhan Reddy (AP) 53.42, Tarte Dnyanesh (Mah) 53.49, 3. 10-12: M Dileep (AP) 54.44, 1; Vedant Sethi (MP) 54.48, 2; Abhishek M (Kar) 55.07, 3. 8-10: Rohith M Gowda (Kar) 55.82, 1; Bhatt Ashokbhai Rushabh (Guj) 56.17, 2; S Prathik (Kar) 56.87, 3.  Girls: Above 16 years: Benazir Meera (Kar) 1:04.59, 1; Hitexa Parmar (Guj) 1:06.66, 2; Sonali Devgan (Pun) 1:05.33, 3.  14-16: Shravani R Shetty (Kar) 54.97, 1; Chestha Mundeja (Har) 55.25, 2; Aagta Singh (UP) 59.78, 3. 12-14: Shreeraksha KS (Kar) 54.62, 1; Simran Josan (Har) 55.09, 2; Aashita Khandelwal (MP) 56.12, 3. 10-12: Rachita (Har) 55.69, 1; Nikita Thakur (J&K) 57.10, 2; Harshitha M Gowda (Kar) 55.81, 3. 8-10: B Sai Deeksha Reddy (AP) 58.51, 1; S Swathi (Kar) 58.49, 2; Bhumika Singh (Har) 58.47, 3.

Rink Race IV - 500M: Boys: Above 16 years: Akash Aradhya (Kar), 1; K Stephen Paul (AP) 45.79, 2; Jainam Hemeshbhai Shah (Guj) 45.80, 3.  14-16: Dhanush Babu (Kar) 1; Sarpreet Singh (Del) 2; Akash Raju (Kar) 3. 12-14: Raghav Sachdev (Del) 47.90, 1; Abdul Zaheer Khan (AP) 47.92, 2; Yashas Shankar (Kar) 47.97, 3.  10-12: Aditya S Rao (Kar) 1; M Viramakali Vignesh (TN) 2; Siddhant Kamble (Mah) 3. 8-10: Tanmay Rathee (Har) 1; Hrithik Karadi (Kar) 2; Sabarish Rajesh (Guj) 3. Girls: Above 16 years: Varsha S Puranik (Kar) 1; Mansi Bhide (Mah) 2; Nilasha HA (Kar) 3.
14-16: Shivani Shetty (Mah) 1; R Lavanya (TN) 2; Shraddha Reddy (AP) 3. 12-14: Pooja Patel (Guj) 1; Madhulika Joshi (Mah) 2; Seeliya Simmith (Kar) 3.  10-12: Mouna Babu (Kar) 1; Alisha Chavan (Mah) 2; Tejaswini KR (Kar) 3. 8-10: Preeha Shreelal (UP) 1; Manasvini Pillai (Guj) 2; Rea Elizabeth Achaiah (Kar) 3.