Kochi: Olympian Sandeep Sejwal improved his own record to clinch gold medal in the 200 metres men's breast stroke event at the 67th Senior National Aquatic championship here on Wednesday .
The Railway Sports Promotion Board swimmer started perfectly and went on to nail other competitors with a time of 2:15.22.
Sandeep's previous best timing, 2:15.77, was set in 2012.
While Sandeep reaffirmed his position, a teenage star was on rise in the women's 100m backstroke. Maana Patel, a 13-year-old starlet from Gujarat, smashed the 10-year-old national record of Shikha Tandon (1:06.95) by clocking 1:06.58.
SELECTED RESULTS Men's 400m freestyle: 1. Sajan Prakash 3:58.51; 2. Saurabh Sangvekar 3:58.79; 3. Mandar Anand Rao 4:07.40. 200m breaststroke: 1. Sandeep Sejwal 2:15.22; 2. Anoop Augustine 2:20.66; 3. Puneet Rana 2:22.41. 100m butterfly: 1. Sajan Prakash 55.48 sec; 2. Rakshith U. Shetty 56.30 sec; 3. Supriya Mondal 56.84 sec. 100m backstroke: 1. P.S Madhu 58.75 sec; 2. Ashwin Menon 59:07 sec; 3. Rohit Havaldar 59.21 sec Women's 100m backstroke: 1. Maana Patel 1:06.58; 2. Damini K. Gowda 1:07.24; 3. Arti Ghorpade 1:08.52.
Pooja, Damini shine for K'taka
Pooja R. Alva and Damini K. Gowda lifted Karnataka spirits on day dominated by the Railway Sports Promotion Board swimmers in the 67th Senior National aquatic championships at Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.
On Day one of the five-day meet, Sajan Prakash and Sandeep Sejwal of RSPB put daylight between them and their competitors with the former setting the tempo with a national mark in the opening 400M freestyle event. Prakash clocked 03:59.51 seconds to erase Saurabh Sangvekar's record of 03:58.62, who incidentally finished second but way outside his previous mark.
For Karnataka, Pooja and Damini made it a memorable 1-2 in the 100M butterfly event with the former taking the gold in the 01:04.13 while Damini clinched the silver in 01:04.86 seconds. Damini also added a silver in the 100M backstroke where Gujarat's Mana Patel obliterated Shikha Tandon's 10-year-old mark in a time of 01:06.58.
Sejwal kept the RSPB flag flying high with a new mark in the 200M breast stroke event in 02:15.22 seconds before Prakash grabbed his second gold in the 100M butterfly event with Karnataka's Rakshith Shetty settling for the silver in 56.39 seconds. Prakash then rounded off the day with a third gold after RSPB stormed to the 4x200M relay title.
Men: 400M FS: 1. Sajan Prakash (RSPB) 03:58:51(NR, OR: 03:58.62, Saurabh Sangvekar), 2. Saurabh Sangvekar (Kar) 03:58:79, 3. Mandar Divase (Police) 04:07:40; 200M BR: 1. Sandeep Sejwal (RSPB) 02:15.22 (NR, OR: 02:15.77 S. Sejwal), 2. Anoop Augustine (RSPB) 02:20.66, 3. Puneet Rana (Pol) 02:22.41; 100M BF: 1. Sajan Prakash (RSPB) 55.48, 2. Rakshith Shetty (Kar) 56.39, 3. Supriya Mondal (WB) 56.84; 100M BS: 1. Madhu PS (SSCB) 58.75, 2. Ashwin Menon (Kar) 59.07, 3. Rohit Havaldar (Mah) 59.21; 4x200M FS relay: 1. RSPB 07:51.96, 2. Karnataka (Mitesh Kunte, Mohd Yaqoob Saleem, Ashwin Menon, Saurabh Sangvekar) 07:52.11, 3. SSCB 08:05.07 Women: 400M FS: 1. Monique Gandhi (Mah) 04:34,99, 2, Arti Ghorpade (Mah) 04:37:58, 3. Shruthi Mahalingam (TN) 04:43:93; 200M BR: 1. Poorva Shetye (Mah) 02:47:37, 2. Harleen Kaur (Pnj) 02:50:74, Arathy S. (Ker) 02:51:60; 100M BF: Pooja R. Alva (Kar) 01:04:13, Damini K. Gowda (Kar) 01:04:86, 3. Aditi Dhumatkar (Mah) 01:05:33; 100M BS: 1. Mana Patel (Guj) 01:06.58 (NR, OR: 01:06.95, Shikha Tandon), 2.Damini K Gowda (Kar) 01:07.24, 3. Arti Ghorpade (Mah) 01:08.52.
INDIAN OIL WIN 2ND GAME IN NEHRU HOCKEY
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?New Delhi: Indian Oil XI won their second consecutive game, beating Central Railway, Mumbai, 3-1 in a Group A match of their Super League encounter of the Torex 50th Nehru senior men's hockey tournament here on Wednesday.
Goals by Sunil Yadav, Deepak Thakur and Roshan Minz in the second half put the team on top of the Group A stand ings with six points, while Shashi Toppo reduced the margin for Central Railway. In Group B, Bharat Petroleum began on a winning note, but not before a strong fight from Western Railway. The Oilmen prevailed 7-6 in the sudden death, after the teams were tied 3-3 in regulation time.
Ravi Pal (2), Pundalik Bellary (2), Amar Aiyamma and Varun Kumar (2) were on target for Bharat Petroleum in the penalty shootout and sudden death, while Tushar Khandker missed twice. For Western Railway, Gurmeet Singh (2), Irshad Mirja (2), Vinod Singh, Ashish Pal con verted, while Rajin Kandulna and Pal missed crucial penal ties.
In another Group B game, Army XI beat Punjab and Sind Bank XI 3-2.
