Karnataka duo Srihari Nataraj and SP Likith were in the 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 the tournament. Karnataka finished runners-up in both sections with 187 and 201 points.
Karnataka's Srihari Nataraj (U-21) ended the competition with seven gold medals while his teammate Likith bagged five golds and a bronze.
Srihari Nataraj emerged as the most prolific gold medallist on Tuesday, adding two more to his tally, to reach a total of seven at the Khelo India Youth Games. With SP Likith claiming five gold medals, the Karnataka duo was the most decorated gold medalists of the Games. Karnataka won a total of 21 swimming gold, 13 silver and 13 bronze for 51, while Delhi had 19 gold, 13 silver and 16 bronze for 48 and Maharashtra 18 gold, 15 silver and 10 bronze.
Yet the distribution was such that Maharashtra in Under-21 and Delhi in Under-17 were the winners of the combined team championships at the Balewadi Complex swimming pool.
In the overall tally, Maharashtra stayed way ahead of the pack with 64 gold, 51 silver and 62 bronze for a total of 177, while Delhi trailed in second place at 47 gold, 31 silver, and 43 bronze and a total of 121. Haryana is third with 37 gold, 35 silver and 38 bronze for a total of 110
Nataraj was a comfortable winner in both 50 m backstroke and 100 m freestyle. He faced no challenge in winning the 50 metres backstroke (Boys U-21) in 26.16 seconds with Goa's Xavier D'Souza (26.74) more than half a second behind him. Haryana's Vedant Seth (27.14) was third.
He won his second individual gold of the day in the 100m freestyle clocking 52.37 seconds. He again finished way ahead of D'Souza (53.15) and Maharashtra's Aaron Fernandes (54.11).
Delhi's 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.
On the last day of the competition, Delhi bagged four of the 13 gold at stake while Karnataka and Maharashtra clinched three and two gold respectively.
Among other multiple medalists, there were Maharashtra's Yuga Birnale (U-21) and Kenisha Gupta (U-17), who earned three golds each in the women's section.
Nataraj faced no challenge in winning the 50m backstroke (Boys U-21) in 26.16 seconds with Goa's Xavier D'Souza (26.74) more than half a second behind him. Haryana's Vedant Seth (27.14) was third.
Nataraj won his second individual gold of the day in the 100m freestyle clocking 52.37 seconds. He again finished way ahead of D'Souza (53.15) and Maharashtra's Aaron Fernandes (54.11).
On the last day of the competition, Delhi bagged four of the 13 golds at stake while Karnataka and Maharashtra clinched three and two gold medals respectively. Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Haryana shared the remaining four.
