Likith swims to three gold to put Karnataka on top

Despite the serious competition, it was Veer Khatkar of Haryana who celebrated the best on the pool, cutting nice poses to his friends, after winning the under-17 men’s 50-metre freestyle with a time of 24.71 seconds.

The architect of Karnataka's resurgence, SP Likith running away from the pool, to prepare for his next race, after winning the 50-metre freestyle in the Khelo India Youth Games in Pune on Monday.

Karnataka jumped to the top of the medals table in swimming with five gold medals on the day, courtesy the heroics of SP Likith who had his hand on three of them, in the Khelo India Youth Games at the Balewadi Sports Complex here on Monday. It was some sight, as Likith literally jumped out of the pool and ran away to grab his clothes and shoes, after winning the 50-metre freestyle in the under-21 men’s section.

It was as if he not only wanted to be the fastest swimmer of the meet, with his time of 24.15 seconds, as he beat Xaiver D’Souza of Goa, by 0.2 seconds, but also wanted to be the fastest over that distance!

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As it turned out, he was in a hurry as he had to compete in the 50-metre breaststroke soon after and later jumped into the pool again to help Karnataka win the 4 x 100-metre freestyle relay.

With Avinash Mani and CJ Sanjay winning the 200-metre butterfly for men in the two age groups, apart from Deeksha Suresh beating Maana Patel by 0.14 points for the under-21 women’s 50-metre freestyle gold, Karnataka took its gold tally to 18, apart from 14 silver and nine bronze.

Maharashtra, which won two gold medals amid overwhelming cheer in the stands through Kenisha Gupta and Apeksha Fernandes in the women’s under-17 freestyle and butterfly events, took its gold collection to 16. It had 13 silver and nine bronze.

Kushagra Gupta won the only gold medal for Delhi, in the gruelling 1500-metre freestyle, as the team took its tally to 15 gold, 12 silver and 14 bronze.

Despite the serious competition, it was Veer Khatkar of Haryana who celebrated the best on the pool, cutting nice poses to his friends, after winning the under-17 men’s 50-metre freestyle with a time of 24.71 seconds.

Veer Khatkar strikes a celebratory pose after winning the under-17 men's 50-metre freestyle in the Khelo India Youth Games in Pune on Monday.

 

The results: Men: Under-21: 50m freestyle: 1. SP Likith (Kar) 24.15; 2. Xavier D’Souza (Goa) 24.17; 3. Sahil Pawar (Mah) 24.53. 1500m freestyle: 1. Kushagra Rawat (Del) 15:59.06; 2. Sushrut Kapse (Mah) 16:24.68; 3. Vishal Grewal (Del) 16:57.74. 200m butterfly: 1. Avinash Mani (Kar) 2:08.96; 2. Shivaksh Sahu (Cgh) 2:10.17; 3. Vinayak Parihar (Del) 2:11.19. 50m breaststroke: 1. SP Likith (Kar) 29.47; 2. Danush Suresh (TN) 29.96; 3. Ansh Arora (UP) 30.05. 4 x 100m freestyle relay: 1. Karnataka 3:37.68; 2. Delhi 3:42.09; 3. Maharashtra 3:43.51. Under-17: 50m freestyle: 1. Veer Khatkar (Har) 24.71; 2. Rudransh Mishra (Mah) 25.07; 3. Ruthik Sri Satti (Tel) 25.20. 200m butterfly: 1. CJ Sanjay (Kar) 2:10.34; 2. Bikram Changmai (Del) 2:10.56; 3. Aryan Panchal (Guj) 2:14.08. 50m breaststroke: 1. S. Giridhar (Ker) 31.20; 2. B. Akash Navin (TN) 32.05; 3. Pasumarthy Kushal (Kar) 32.19. 4 x 100m freestyle relay: 1. Tamil Nadu 3:41.60; 2. Delhi 3:41.68; 3. Karnataka 3:42.06. Women: Under-21: 50m freestyle: 1. Deeksha Ramesh (Kar) 27.67; 2. Maana Patel (Guj) 27.81; 3. Sadhvi Dhuri (Mah) 27.90. 200m butterfly: 1. Firdoush Kayamkhani (Raj) 2:34.11; 2. Aakanksha Buchade (Mah) 2:38.13; 3. Suchetna Chakraborty (WB) 2:46.23. 50m breaststroke: 1. AV Jayaveena (TN) 33.76; 2. Sharon Shaju (Mah) 35.52; 3. B. Preethi (TN) 35.97. Under-17: 50m freestyle: 1. Kenisha Gupta (Mah) 27.28; 2. Shivangi Sarma (Del) 27.92; 3. Mahi Swetraj (Bih) 28.04. 200m butterfly: 1. Apeksha Fernandes (Mah) 2:27.54; 2. Anvesha Girish (Kar) 2:28.01; 3. Astha Choudhary (Del) 2:30.41. 50m breaststroke: 1. Aaliyah Singh (UP) 35.12; 2. Rachana Rao (Kar) 35.88; 3. R. Jaahnavi (TN) 36.44.