Defending champions Karnataka endured another disappointing day at the 68th Senior National Aquatic Championship, pocketing just two medals, while Railways ruled the roost here on Friday.
Malvika V bagged a silver in the 1500M freestyle and the women’s 4x100M freestyle quartet also claimed a silver in the relay race as Karnataka’s 23-year-old grip on the overall championship appears in serious jeopardy with arch-rivals Maharashtra looking good to regain the crown.
Maharashtra, who have led the points tally since the first day, nailed three gold (one from diving), two silver (and a bronze to further drive home the advantage on the fourth and penultimate day.
While Aditi Dhumatkar won the 50M freestyle gold in 27.07 seconds to emerge the fastest swimmer of the championship, the women’s 4x100M relay squad rode to victory in record-breaking fashion, coming home in 4:03.05.
Maana Patel once again lived up to the high expectations, the 14-year-old Gujarati touching the pad first in the 50M backstroke event in a new national record time of 30.38 seconds. Tamil Nadu’s VKR Meenakshi, another talented swimmer, bagged silver in 31.60 and Maharashtra’s Jyotsana Pansare (31.63) took bronze.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka women’s waterpolo team lost 1-11 to Kerala in the semifinals. In the third-place match on Sunday, they will take on Bengal.
DH News ServiceResults: Men: 50M backstroke: Madhu P (Services) 27.02 seconds (NR; Old: MB Balakrishnan, 27.15, 2012) 1; Rohit Imoliya (Madhya Pradesh) 27.28, 2; Aaron D’Souza (Railways) 27.33, 3.
100M breaststroke: Sandeep Sejwal (Railways) 1:02.81, 1; Puneet Rana (Police) 1:04.61, 2; Anoop Augastin (Railways) 1:04.74, 3.
200M butterfly: Sajan Prakash (Railways) 2:02.13, 1; Supriya Mondal (Bengal) 2:02.75, 2; Sanu Debnath (Railways) 2:06.20, 3.
4x100M freestyle: Railways (3:29.32) (NR; Old: Karnataka, 3:32.14, 2012) 1; Maharashtra (3:32.32) 2; Gujarat (3:36.23) 3.
Women: 50M backstroke: Maana Patel (Gujarat) 30.38 (NR; Old: Maana Patel, 31.00 seconds, 2012) 1; VKR Meenakshi (Tamil Nadu) 31.60, 2; Jyotsana Pansare (Maharashtra) 31.63, 3.
50M freestyle: Aditi Dhumatkar (Maharashtra) 27.07, 1; Talasha Prabhu (Goa) 27.34, 2; Shivani Kataria (Haryana) 27.49, 3.
100M breaststroke: AV Jayveena (Tamil Nadu) 1:18.50, 1; Monique Gandhi (Maharashtra) 1:18.66, 2; Harleen Kaur (Punjab) 1:19.40, 3.
1500M Freestyle: Richa Mishra (Police) 17:47.12, 1; Malvika V (Karnataka) 17:55.45, 2; PM Abhishikta (Tamil Nadu) 18:17.89, 3.
4x100M freestyle: Maharashtra (4:03.05) (NR; Old: Maharashtra, 4:06.18, 2013) 1; Karnataka (4:11.91) 2; Tamil Nadu (4:16.00) 3.
Diving: Men: 1M spring board: K Ramananda Sharma (Services) 359.20 metres (NR; Old: K Ramananda Sharma, 337) 1; T Hariprasad (Railways) 295.70, 2; Y Hemjit Meitei (Services) 284.95, 3.
Women: 1M spring board: Simran Rajani (Maharashtra) 180.60, 1; Hrutika Shriram (Railways) 172.00, 2; Tanuka Dhara (Bengal) 154.45, 3.
