Karnataka rule the roost

Aquatics: Senior Nationals: State swimmers ward off Maharashtra challenge

The State swimmers finished with 264 points, 28 ahead of Maharashtra, to extend their domination on the national scene.

With the contest for overall crown going into the final day, Karnataka needed a strong performance from their swimmers. Gagan A P, Aaron D’Souza and Pooja R Alva did the bulk of the job for the State, winning four gold on the final day.

Gagan was the most impressive of the lot, easily pocketing the 1500 freestyle in 16 minutes 26.54 seconds. Though, Gagan faced a stiff challenge in the butterfly and backstroke segments from Aditya Sangvekar, the Karnataka lad made full use of the freestyle segment to touch home in 4:47.17 for the 400M individual medley gold.

Aaron then powered to 200 fly gold in 2:05.66 and Pooja bagged the corresponding women’s crown, clocking 2:22.82.

Richa Mishra claimed her third gold of the meet by winning the 400M individual medley in 5:08.51 and took home the best swimmer award in the women’s section while RSPB’s Sandeep Sejwal, who won the 50, 100 and 200 breaststroke events, was adjudged the best in the men’s section.

State eves win silver
Karnataka women won the silver in water polo after losing 1-4 to Police in the final.
Purnima Pal scored a brace while Biji Devi and Preeti Gupta netted one apiece for Police. Malavika Gubbi reduced the margin for Karnataka.

Results: Men: 100M freestyle: Virdhawal Khade (Mah) 51.66 seconds, 1; Aaron D’Souza (Kar) 52.24, 2; Arjun J P (RSPB) 53.67, 3. 1500M freestyle: Gagan A P (Kar) 16:26.54, 1; Mander A Divase (Police) 16:42.32, 2; Merwyn Chen (RSPB) 16:55.27, 3. 100M breaststroke: Sandeep Sejwal (RSPB) 1:04.33, 1; Puneet Rana (Har) 1:05.11, 2; J Agnishwar (TN) 1:06.05, 3. 200M butterfly: Aaron D’Souza (Kar) 2:05.66, 1; Arjun Muralidharan (Police) 2:05.87, 2; Tarun Tokas (RSPB) 2:10.26, 3. 400M individual medley: Gagan A P (Kar) 4:47.17, 1; Merwyn Chen (RSPB) 4:49.87, 2; Aditya Sangvekar (RSPB) 4:58.51, 3. Women: 100M freestyle: Talasha Prabhu (Goa) 59.23, 1; Jyotsna Pansare (Mah) 1:00.07, 2; Sneha T (Kar) 1:00.48, 3. 100M breaststroke: Poorva Shetye (Mah) 1:19.14, 1; Priyanka Priydarshini (Dli) 1:19.21,2; Mankiran Kaur (Pun) 1:19.66, 3. 200M butterfly: Pooja R Alva (Kar) 2:22.82, 1; Aditi Dhumatkar (Mah) 2:23.67, 2; Rujuta Bhatt (Mah) 2:28.13, 3. 400M individual medley: Richa Mishra (Police) 5:08.51, 1; Pooja R Alva (Kar) 5:23.05, 2; Kanchi Desai (Mah) 5:24.26, 3.

Overall championship: Karnataka (264 points) 1; Maharashtra (236) 2.

Team championship: Men: Karnataka (140). Women: Maharashtra (165). Best swimmer: Men: Sandeep Sejwal (RSPB, 25). Women: Richa Mishra (Police, 29).

Waterpolo: Men: Final: RSPB bt Kerala 12-5. Third place play-off: Bengal bt Maharashtra 13-8.

Women: Final: Police: 4 (Purnima Pal 2, Biji Devi 1, Preeti Gupta 1) bt Karnataka: 1 (Malavika Gubbi). Third place play-off: Kerala bt Maharashtra 6-5.

Diving: Men: 1M Springboard: T Hariprasad (RSPB) 264.60 points, 1; S Rabi Kumar Singh (RSPB) 257.50, 2; Y Hemjit Meitei (Jhd) 218.00, 3.

Women: 1M Springboard: Hrutika Shriram (RSPB) 171.35, 1; Karishma M Mohite (Kar) 152.05, 2; Swati Vidap (Mah) 120.20, 3. Team championship: Men: RSPB (24 pts). Women: RSPB (21).