Karnataka retain crown

Shraddha clinches 200M breaststroke gold; Arvind named best

Karnataka exhibited their dominance in overwhelming fashion, emerging champions for the 21st consecutive time as the 40th Junior National Aquatic Championship came to its predictable end here on Sunday.

Wrapping up their campaign with an impressive haul of 32 golds, 23 silvers and 15 bronze, Karnataka totalled 566 points across the four groups to once again leave long-time rivals Maharashtra (22 gold, 18 silver, 27 bronze) in second place at the Gachibowli Stadium.

Like they’ve been doing right through the championship, Karnataka bagged the maximum number of golds (6) on offer on the day as compared to other teams to extend their long reign that simply never appears to fade away despite the growing competition.

Basavanagudi Aquatic Centre’s Mitesh M Kunte (Group I 800M freestyle) and Likith SP (Group I 200M breaststroke) expectedly won their respective events while Nettakallappa Aquatic Centre’s Shraddha Sudhir avenged her loss in the Group II 400M individual medley with a gold in the 200M breaststroke.

Sanjeev R nailed the fourth individual gold in the 100M butterfly while Karnataka emerged victorious in the Boys’ Group I 4x100M medley and 4x100M Girls Group II medley relays as well.

Arvind tops

BAC’s Arvind M, who bagged seven gold medals with four coming in individual performances, picked up the best swimmer award in Group I to make a strong statement ahead of the Senior Nationals this October.

Meanwhile, the 14-year-old Shraddha dished out a steely show to pip Sayani Ghosh of West Bengal at the very last metre to win a nail-biter in the 200M breaststroke event. Off the blocks slowly, Shraddha turned in second behind State-mate Shriya Bhat at the opening 50. She, however, covered good ground in the second lap to take a half-a-second lead at the turn which she held on to until the final lap.

Sayani, lying third until then, made the move on the home stretch as a fine battle ensued for the final 25 metres. Having suffered a disappointment earlier in the evening, Shraddha, held firm to touch the pad first at 2:56.61.

Sayani was second at 2:56.77 while Shriya came in third at 2:57.86.

Likith set a new national record in the 200M breaststroke event, completing a well-calculated swim in 2:26.44 to obliterate Sandeep Sejwal’s mark of 2:29.19 set in 2006.


Results: Swimming: Boys: Group I: 800M freestyle: Mitesh Manoj Kunte (Karnataka) 8:46.62, 1; Mohammed Yaqooib Saleem (Karnataka) 8:48.30, 2; Raj Bhanvadia (Gujarat) 8:51.66, 3.

200M breaststroke: Likith SP (Karnataka) 2:26.44 (NR; Old: 2:29.19, Sandeep Sejwal, Delhi, 2006) 1; Raoul Rajani (Maharashtra) 2:30.14, 2; Emil Robin Singh T (Tamil Nadu) 2:30.50, 3.

100M butterfly: Supriya Mondal (West Bengal) 57.02 seconds, 1; Rakshith U Shetty (Karnataka) 57.66, 2; Bobby Rana (Delhi) 58.93, 3.

4x100M medley relay: Karnataka (Arvind M, Likith SP, Rakshith U Stetty, Mitesh Manoj Kunte) 4:04.56 (NR; Old: 4:07.71, Karnataka, 2011) 1; Tamil Nadu (T Sethu Manickavel, Emil Robin Singh T, K Mugunthan, P Larsen) 4:07.82, 2; Maharashtra (Neel Gunde, Raoul Rajani, Jason Smith, Viraj Dhokale) 4:15.95, 3.

Group II: 1500M freestyle: Ishaan Jaffer (Maharashtra) 16:59.57, 1; Aryan Makhija (Maharashtra) 17:03.36, 2; Sanjeev R (Karnataka) 17:06.71, 3.

200M breaststroke: Sidharth Sankhe (Maharashtra) 2:38.10, 1; Nithyaanand S (Tamil Nadu) 2:39.11, 2; S Danush (Maharashtra) 2:43.38, 3.

100M butterfly: Sanjeev R (Karnataka) 1:03.86, 1; Priyank Rana (Delhi) 1:03.96, 2; Shivaksh Sahu (Chhattisgarh) 1:04.08, 3.

4x100M medley relay: Maharashtra (Sahil Joshi, Sidharth Sankhe, Ishaan Jaffer, Saumya Vora) 4:24.99 (NR; Old: 4:26.55, Karnataka, 2006) 1; Karnataka (Hemanth Jenukal VB, Manav D, Sanjeev R, Spandan Pratik Rath) 4:28.42, 2; West Bengal (Ashish Kumar Kharwar, Apurba Das, Ranajit Dutta, Pratyay Bhattachraya) 4:37.44, 3.
Girls: Group I: 100M freestyle: Shivani Kataria (Haryana) 59.76, 1; Malavika V (Karnataka) 1:01.59, 2; Rujuta Bhatt (Maharashtra) 1:01.70, 3.

400M individual medley: Aakanksha Vora (Maharashtra) 5:14.93, 1; VKR Meenakshi (Tamil Nadu) 5:23.96, 2; Simran Deepak M (Maharashtra) 5:41.14, 3.

200M breaststroke: Monique Gandhi (Maharashtra) 2:48.64, 1; AV Jayaveena (Tamil Nadu) 2:52.68, 2; Harleen Kaur (Punjab) 2:53.06, 3.

4x100M medley relay: Maharashtra (Avantika Chavan, Monique Gandhi, Rujuta Bhatt, Aakanksha Vora) 4:48.91, 1; Tamil Nadu (S Vilassini, AV Jayaveena, VKR Meenakshi, Shruthi Mahalingham) 4:52.10, 2; Karnataka (K Harishree J Rai, Charu Hamsini DA, Siya Manjeshwar, Malavika V) 4:52.97, 3.

Group II: 100M freestyle: Gitanjali Pandey (Gujarat) 1:03.19, 1; Chandana K (Karnataka) 1:04.46, 2; PM Abishiktha (Tamil Nadu) 1:05.28, 3.

400M individual medley: Sayani Ghosh (West Bengal) 5:30.31, 1; Shraddha Sudhir (Karnataka) 5:33.57, 2; Nivya Raja (Tamil Nadu) 5:38.41, 3.

200M breaststroke: Shraddha Sudhir (Karnataka) 2:56.61, 1; Sayani Ghosh (West Bengal) 2:56.77, 2; Shriya Bhatt (Karnataka) 2:57.86, 3.

4x100M medley relay: Karnataka (Ranjana H, Shraddha Sudhir, Damini K Gowda, Chandana K) 4:55.32, 1; Tamil Nadu (Nivya Raja, Yashna Vummidi, S Uma Devi, PM Abishiktha) 4:58.86, 2; Maharashtra (Neha Prasad, Apeksha Shrirao, Trisha Karkhanis, Yuga Birnale) 4:59.39.

Waterpolo: Boys: Super League: Maharashtra: 7 bt West Bengal: 2.
Final placings: Maharashtra 1; Kerala 2; West Bengal 3.

Girls: Final: Kerala: 3 bt Maharashtra: 1.
Third-place play-off: Karnataka: 4 bt West Bengal: 1.
Individual awards: Boys: Group I: Arvind M (Karnataka) 28 points.
Group II: Ishaan Jaffer (Maharashtra) 33 pts.
Girls: Group I: Monique Gandhi (Maharashtra) 33 pts.
Group II: Maana Patel (Gujarat) 28 pts.
Team championships: Boys: Group I: Karnataka (181 pts).
Group II: Maharashtra (161 pts).
Girls: Group I: Maharashtra (177 pts).
Group II: Karnataka (150 pts).
Overall champions: Karnataka (566 pts).