Asian Games: Indian swimmers fail to qualify for finals

Incheon, Sep 23 (IANS)

Indian men failed to qualify for the finals of two Asian Games swimming events they participated in at the Munhak Park Tae-hwan Aquatics Center here Tuesday.

Sajan Prakash and Saurabh Sangvekar finished fourth and seventh respectively in their men's 400 metre freestyle heats while Anshul Kothari was sixth in the 50m freestyle heat.

However, Sajan's fourth-spot finish has enabled him to obtain a second reserve spot for the final. He will qualify for the final if two of the qualified swimmers pull out.

Sajan clocked three minutes and 59.27 seconds, 7.03 seconds behind Japan's Kosuke Hagino, who qualified first from the heat. Hagino clocked three minutes and 52.24 seconds to take the top spot.

In the other heat, Sangvekar also failed to qualify for the finals after finishing seventh behind China's Yang Sun, trailing by eight minutes and 49 seconds.

Sangvekar clocked three minutes and 59.66 seconds, way behind Yang Sun's time of three minutes and 51.17 seconds.

In the 50m freestyle heat, Kothari came in sixth with a time of 23.94 seconds. Japan's Kenta Ito took the top qualifying spot, clocking 22.64 seconds.