Khelo: Karnataka’s Srihari Natraj grabs seven gold medals

Team Udayavani, Jan 16, 2019, 4:29 AM IST

Pune: Karnataka duo Srihari Nataraj and S P Likith were in limelight as the swimming competition came to an end at the Khelo India Youth Games on Tuesday.

Despite the barrage of gold medals from the young twosome, hosts Maharashtra (192 points) and Delhi (242) claimed the Under-21 and Under-17 combined swimming team championships respectively in these Games.

Karnataka finished runners-up in both sections with 187 and 201 points, a media release said.

Karnataka’s Srihari Nataraj (U-21) ended the competition with seven gold medals while his teammate Likith bagged five gold and a bronze, it said.

Among other multiple medallists, there were Maharashtra’s Yuga Birnale (U-21) and Kenisha Gupta (U-17), who earned three gold each in the women’s section.

Nataraj faced no challenge in winning the 50m backstroke (Boys U-21) in 26.16 seconds.

Nataraj won his second individual gold of the day in the 100m freestyle clocking 52.37 seconds.

Delhi’s multiple medallist Prachi Tokas won gold in the first event of the day, the 1500m freestyle (Girls U-17) in 18:09.31.

Swadesh Mondal, who started the day with four gold medals already in his bag, added a fifth by winning the 200m breaststroke in the Boys U-17 event in 2:26.91.

Delhi’s Astha Choudhary (Girls U-17) clinched gold in the 100m butterfly and her teammate Tanmay Das topped the podium in the 50m backstroke (Boys U-17).

Suvana Baskar added another gold to Karnataka’s tally in the 50m backstroke for Girls U-17.

Maharashtra’s Kareena Shankta (U-17) and Jyoti Patil (U-21) won gold in the women’s 200m breaststroke respectively.

Karnataka ended the competition with 51 medals (21 gold, 17 silver, 13 bronze) and were followed by Delhi’s 48 (19-13-16), Maharashtra’s 42 (18-15-10) and Tamil Nadu’s 25 (7-12-6).