Srihari leads India’s gold rush

Srihari Nataraj set a new meet record, Kushagra Rawat added a fourth gold to his collection and Sajan Prakash won the yellow metal in the 200m butterfly as India continued to rake in the medals on the penultimate day of the 10th Asian Age Group Swimming Championships at the Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence here on Thursday.

India have 12 gold medals, 16 silver and 12 bronze medals.

Srihari touched the pad in 55.06 seconds in the 100m backstroke to break the previous record of 55.89 set by Sudartawa two years ago. He was followed by Atayev Merdan of Turkey and Lau Shui Yue of Hong Kong.

However, the time was less than his personal best and the best Indian time of 54.69 in the event. And with the Olympic A qualification of a further .85 seconds under his best time, Srihari stressed he was not disappointed.

"I expected a faster time but there is nothing to be disappointed with. This is my third fastest time and with a busy schedule," said the 18-year-old. "There are a few errors, I need to watch the video. But I gave my 100 per cent and tried my best."

Srihari then added a bronze medal with a time of 50.91 in what was the most exciting race of the day -- 100m freestyle. Virdhawal Khade (50.68) came in ahead of the Bengaluru lad for the silver medal with Khurshidjon Tursunov (50.56) of Uzbekistan taking the gold in a closely fought event.

Khushagra, meanwhile, triumphed in the 400m freestyle with a timing of 3:55.81, ahead of Chang Cheng Li Wei and Abbas Omar.

Prakash clinched the yellow metal in his pet event, 200m butterfly. The Olympian stopped the clock at 2:00.38 to come home ahead of Wogcharoen Navaphat of Thailand and Klziw Ayman of Syria respectively.

Another of India's Olympic hopeful, Rawat, picked up another gold for the third straight day by cruising to the finish line in 3:55.81.

Among the women, Shivani Kataria won a bronze in 400m freestyle and Maana Patel clinched silver in 100m backstroke.

In age group events, Tanish George clinched a silver in 200m butterfly (Group I) while Apeksha Fernandes and Devansh Parmar took bronze in 200mm breaststroke and 200m backstroke respectively in Group II.

Results: Open: Men: 100m freestyle: Khurshidjon Tursunov (Uzb) 50.56, 1; Virdhawal Khade (Ind) 50.68, 2; Srihari Nataraj (Ind) 50.91, 3.

400m freestyle: Khushagra Rawat (Ind) 3:55.81, 1; Chang Cheng Li Wei (Tpe) 3:56.89, 2; Abbas Omar (Syr) 4:01.52, 3.

100m backstroke: Srihari Nataraj 55.06 (NMR; OR: Sudartawa, 55.89, 2015, 1; Atayev Merdan (Trk) 55.28, 2; Lau Shiu Yue (Hkg) 57.56, 3.

200m butterfly: Sajan Prakash (Ind) 2:00.38, 1; Wongcharoen Navaphat (Tha) 2:01.16, 2; Klzie Ayman (Syr) 2:02.38, 1.

4x100m medley: India 3:46.49, 1; Thailand 3:48.89, 2; Hong Kong 3:53.99.

Women: 100m freestyle: Junkrajang Natthanan (Tha) 57.23, 1; Nguyen Diep Phuong Tram (Vei) 57.87, 2; Srisa Ard Jenjira (Tha) 58.93, 3.

400m freestyle: Junkrajang Natthanan (Tha) 4:23.45, 1; Himathongkom Ammiga (Tha) 4:26.97, 1; Shivani Kataria (Ind) 4:27.16, 3.

100m backstroke (Open Category Women): Nguyen Diep Phuong Tram (Vie) 1:04.89, 1; Maana Patel (Ind) 1:05.08, 2; Boonamphai Saovanee (Tha) 1:05.55, 3.

200m butterfly: Kittiya Patarawadee (Tha) 2:19.17, 1; Nimdam Kanitta (Tha) 2:25.23, 2; Wong Ching Lam Athena (Hkg) 2:25.23, 3.

4x100 medley: Thailand 4:23.23, 1; India 4:26.69, 2; Hong Kong 4:31.19, 3.

4x100 mixed freestyle: Japan 3:46.29, 1; Hong Kong 3:48.48, 2; Thailand 3:50.98, 3.

Group I: Boys: 200m butterfly: Tanish George (Ind) 2:03.31, 2.

Group II: Boys: 200m backstroke: Devansh Parmar (Ind) 2:12.90, 3.

Girls: 200m breaststroke: Apeksha Fernandes (Ind) 2:40.38, 3.