Karnataka emerge overall champions

State swimmers amass 513 points to retain title, quelling the challenge of Maharashtra

The State swimmers tallied 513 points, just 30 points ahead of nearest rivals Maharashtra, to successfully defend the title won in Jaipur.

On the final day of competition, the hosts claimed four gold medals, with the girls’ Group I 4x100M medley relay team ducking under the national mark.

The Karnataka quartet of Arhatha Magavi, Bhoomi R Motwani, Meghana Sreevatsa and Sneha T stopped the clock at 4:49.82 to sink their own four-year-old national mark of 4:50.25.

Akash Rohit (boys’ Group I), Bhoomi (girls’ Group I) and the boys’ Group II 4x100M medley relay team rounded off a very good day for the hosts.

Akash clocked 2:35.20 to finish first in the 200M breaststroke while Bhoomi cruised home in five minutes 34.32 seconds to pocket the 400M individual medley title.
The State boys’ relay team of Akhilesh Ram, Pranam B, Ritesh R Suryavanshi and SV Sumukh timed 4:30.48 en route to the gold.

Karnataka also won the boys’ Group II team championship with 179 points, and their Group I girls scored 129 points to bag the crown.

Akshay, who won three gold medals, was named the boys’ Group I best swimmer while his State-mate Pranam B hogged the limelight with the corresponding Group II award.

The BAC swimmer claimed the 50, 100 and 200 backstroke, 200M individual medley and 200 free titles at the five-day meet. Three other national records were rewritten on Sunday. Talasha Prabhu (girls’ Group 100M freestyle), Kanchi Desai (girls’ Group II 400M individual medley) and Maharashtra’s girls’ Group II 4x100 medley relay team.

In water polo competition, Karnataka girls won the bronze despite going down to Kerala 0-4 while their boys lost 4-11 to Kerala to end up fourth.

Results: Boys: Group I: 800M freestyle: Saurabh Sangvekar (Mah) 8:45.36, 1; Akshay Krishna (Kar) 8:49.27, 2; Ajay A (Kar) 9:06.42, 3.

200M breaststroke: Akash Rohit (Kar) 2:35.20, 1; Anjani Kumar Mishra (UP) 2:37.91, 2; Soham Mhatre (Mah) 2:41.23, 3. 100M butterfly: Jaywant Vijaya Kumar (TN) 59.81, 1; Saurabh Sangvekar (Mah) 59.83, 2; Sajan Prakash (TN) 59.99, 3.

4x100 medley relay:  Maharashtra (Ajey, Apurva, Saurabh, Soham) 4:19.03, 1; Tamil Nadu (Jaywant, Sajan, S Sarathkumar, S Shreyas) 4:20.07, 2; Karnataka (Ajay A, Akash Rohit, Prajwal K S, Srinivas MD) 4:22.81, 3. Group II: 1500M freestyle: Sudhanshu Sharma (Mah) 18:23.51, 1; Viraj Dhokale (Mah) 18:37.94, 2; Chirag B K (Kar) 18:45.97, 3. 200M breaststroke: Niel Contractor (Guj) 2:40.27, 1; Arvind M (Kar) 2:41.48, 2; Akhilesh Ram (Kar) 2:42.52, 3. 100M butterfly: Ranit Dey (WB) 1:01.82, 1; Supriya Mondal (WB) 1:01.98, 2; Sumukh S V (Kar) 1:02.66, 3. 4x100 medley relay: Karnataka (Akhilesh Ram, Pranam B, Ritesh R Suryavanshi, S V Sumukh) 4:30.48, 1; Bengal (Akash, Ranit, Subhamoy, Supriya) 4:36.49, 2; Delhi (Bobby, Harsh, Jasdeep, Rahul) 4:37.85, 3.
Girls: Group I: 100M freestyle: Talasha Prabhu (Goa) 59.50; NR (bettered national mark in heats: 59.95). Old record (1:00.56, Talasha Prabhu, Goa, 2009) 1; Surabhi Tipre (Mah) 1:00.23, 2; Sneha T (Kar) 1:00.87, 3.
200M breaststroke: Raghavi  M (TN) 2:50.74, 1; Bhoomi R Motwani ()Kar) 2:54.19, 2; Gauri Desai (Mah) 2:56.62, 3. 400M individual medley: Bhoomi R Motwani (Kar) 5:34.32, 1; Lavanya G (Kar) 5:45.48, 2; Dharshini S (TN) 5:48.30, 3. 4x100 medley relay: Karnataka (Arhatha Magavi, Bhoomi R Motwani, Meghanaa Sreevatsa, Sneha T) 4:49.82; NR. Old record (4:50.25, Karnataka, 2006), 1; Maharashtra (Kavya, Poorva, Shijini, Surabhi) 4:53.74, 2; Tamil Nadu (Anusha, Ayshwarya C, Dharshini S, Raghavi M) 4:54.56, 3. Group II: 100M freestyle: Rujuta Bhatt (Mah) 1:02.48, 1; Ananya Panigrahi (Mah) 1:03.65, 2; Shivani Kataria (Har) 1:03.89, 3. 200M breaststroke: Priyanka Priyadarshni (Del) 2:55.83, 1; Divya Guruswamy (Kar) 3:02.38, 2; Hetvi Pasad (Mah) 3:05.90, 3. 400M individual medley: Kanchi Desai (Mah) 5:18.89; NR. Old record (5:27.93, Madhavi Giri, Karnataka), 1; Priyanka Priyadarshni (Del) 5:38.63, 2; Meenakshi V  K R (TN) 5:43.32, 3. 4x100 medley relay: Maharashtra (Ananya, Kanchi, Rujuta, Shalmali) 4:53.90; NR. Old record (4:56.44, Karnataka, 2009), 1; Karnataka (Divya Guruswamy, Ishwarya Bhandari, Sapthami U S, Srika K Raju) 5:05.03, 2; Tamil Nadu (Kavya G, Madhumitha A R, Meenakshi, Vilassini S) 5:07.89, 3.
Overall championship: Karnataka (513 points).
Team championship: Boys: Group I: Maharashtra (110 points);  Group II: Karnataka (179 pts).
Girls: Group I: Karnataka (129 pts). Group II: Maharashtra (181 pts).
Best swimmers: Boys: Group I: Akshay Krishna (Kar, 30 points); Group II: Pranam B (Kar, 35 pts).
Girls: Group I: Surabhi Tipre (Mah, 33 pts); Group II: Kanchi Desai (Mah, 35 pts).
Water polo: Boys: Kerala bt Karnataka 11-4; Maharashtra bt Bengal 11-10. Girls: Maharashtra bt Bengal 7-0; Kerala bt Karnataka 4-0.
Final standings: Boys: Maharashtra, 1; Bengal, 2; Kerala, 3; Karnataka, 4. Girls: Kerala, 1; Maharashtra, 2; Karnataka, 3; Bengal, 4.