Trilok Singh
Karnataka’s National Record Holder SrihariNatraj won two more Gold medals (50m backstroke & 100m freestyle) to take his final tally from the pool to six gold and one silver, as the swimming competition of inaugural Khelo India School Games came to an end. While Srihari dominated the Boys section, FirdoushKayamkhani of Delhi won four gold in the Girls section at the Dr.Shyama Prasad Indoor Swimming Pool Stadium.
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Srihari’s tussle against Neel Roy of Maharashtra in the 100m freestyle was a delight but the former pulled away at the end to win by 0.29 seconds, clocking 53.07 seconds. On the final day, he also won the 50m backstroke, which took by almost a second in a race where the fight was for minor medals. Goa’s Xavier Michael D’Souza (27.80s) took the silver, while Tanmay Das (Delhi) and SoumyajitSaha (West Bengal) were in a dead-heat in 28.62 and both were awarded bronze medals.
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In the girls’ section, Annie Jain of Delhi won the 100m freestyle in 1:01.49s and also the 50m breaststroke in 35.49s to take her week’s tally to four gold.Firdoush’s win in 200m butterfly also gave her four gold medals, the same as Annie, while SuvanaBhaskar won the 50m backstroke for her third gold medal. She also had two silver medals in the competition besides two more in relays. Madhya Pradesh’s ParamPadamBirthare in Boys 200m butterfly and Manipur’s MaibamMangalsana in 50m breaststroke were the only ones to break Karnataka and Delhi’s stranglehold on the final day.
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BY Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
