Khelo India 2019: Likith underlines Karnataka’s domination of the pool

Pune, Jan 14: Likith SP bagged three gold medals this evening as Karnataka swimmers dominated the pool to finish the penultimate day of the competition in the Khelo India Youth Games with 10 medals including six golden finishes. He won 50m freestyle and 50m breaststroke today as well as playing a part in Karnataka’s 4x100 freestyle relay victory.

Likith now has five gold medals in these Games. The 20-year-old, who trains at the Basavanagudi Aquatic Centre in Bengaluru, from Jain University had also excelled at the Inter-University Swimming and won two silver medals at the recent National Championships in Thiruvananthapuram.

Maharashtra, though, bagged nine medals including two golds, while Tamil Nadu ended with six medals, two of each color.

Kushagra Rawat won Delhi’s solitary gold today in Boys U-21 1500m freestyle in 15.59.06. Maharashtra’s Sushrut Kapse was second (16:24.68) while another Delhi lad Vishal Grewal took the bronze in 16:57.74.

Karnataka’s gold rush started from the very first event, the 200m butterfly in the boys U-17 category in which Sanjay CJ pipped favorite Bikram Changmai while Gujarat’s Aryan Panchal was a surprise bronze winner. Sanjay clocked 2:10.34.

Avinash Mani won a thrilling 200m butterfly final, warding off a strong challenge from Chhattisgarh’s Shivaksh Sahu in the last lap.

Likith joined the gold hunt in the 50m freestyle. He pushed Goa’s Xavier D’Souza to second place while Maharashtra’s Sahil Pawar and Goa’s Jerry D’Mello took bronze each as they were in a dead heat, in 24.53 seconds.

Likith returned to the pool for 50m breaststroke and claimed his second and State’s fourth gold of the day. Tamil Nadu’s Danush Suresh was second while Uttar Pradesh’s Ansh Arora surprised everybody finishing third in a very strong field.

In the Girls U-21 section, Karnataka’s Deeksha Ramesh foiled Maana Patel's (Gujarat) bid for the gold in the 50m freestyle. Karnataka’s sixth gold came in the last event of the day when its U-21 boys' quartet which included Likith, won the 4x100m freestyle in 3:37.68.

Maharashtra’s gold medals came through Apeksha Fernandes in 200m butterfly and Kenisha Gupta in 50m freestyle (both in girls' u-17). It was Kenisha’s third individual gold medal of the Games.

Veer Khatkar bagged Haryana’s first gold in swimming as he out swam the rest of the field in boys U-17 50m Freestyle. Kerala’s S Giridhar upset the other contenders with his fast and strong finish in boys U-1750m breaststroke event.

Uttar Pradesh’s Aaliyah Singh won the girls U-17 50m breaststroke without much fuss while Tamil Nadu’s AV Jayaveena took gold in girls U-2150m breaststroke.

Results (finals):

Boys Under-21:

50m freestyle: 1. Likith SP (Karnataka) 24.15; 2. Xavier D'souza (Goa) 24.17; 3. Sahil Pawar (Maharashtra) 24.53 and Jerry D'Mello (Goa) 24.53

1500m freestyle: 1. Kushagra Rawat (Delhi) 15:59.06; 2. Sushrut Kapse (Maharashtra) 16:24.68; 3. Vishal Grewal (Delhi) 16:57.74;

200m butterfly: 1. Avinash Mani (Karnataka) 2.08.96; 2. Shivaksh Sahu (Chhattisgarh) 2.10.17; 3. Vinayak Parihar (Delhi) 2.11.19

50m breaststroke: 1. Likith SP (Karnataka) 29.47; 2. Danish Suresh (TN) 29.96; 3. Ansh Arora (UP) 30.05

4x100m freestyle: 1. Karnataka 3.37.68; 2. Delhi 3.42.09; 3. Maharashtra 3.43.51

Girls Under-21:

50m freestyle: 1. Deeksha Ramesh (Karnataka) 27.67; 2. Maana Patel (Gujarat) 27.81; 3. Sadhvi Dhuri (Maharashtra) 27.90

200m butterfly: 1. Firdoush Kayamkhani (Rajasthan) 2.34.11; 2. Aakanksha Buchade (Maharashtra) 2.38.13; 3. Suchetna Chakraborty (West Bengal) 2.46.23

50m breaststroke: 1. A V Jayaveena (TN) 33.76; 2. Sharon Shaju (Maharashtra) 35.52; 3. Preethi B (TN) 35.97

Boys Under-17:

50m freestyle: 1. Veer Khatkar (Haryana) 24.71; 2. Rudransh Mishra (Maharashtra) 25.07; 3. Ruthiik Sri Satti (Telangana) 25.20

200m butterfly: 1. Sanjay CJ (Karnataka) 2.10.34; 2. Bikram Changmai (Delhi) 2.10.56; 3. Aryan Panchal (Gujarat) 2.14.08

50m breaststroke: 1.Giridhar S (Kerala) 31.20; 2. B Akash Navin (TN) 32.05; 3. Pasumarthy Kushal (Karnataka) 32.19

4×100m freestyle: 1. Tamil Nadu 3.41.60; 2. Delhi 3.41.68; 3. Karnataka 3.42.06

Girls Under-17:

50m freestyle: 1. Kenisha Gupta (Maharashtra) 27.28; 2. Shivangi Sharma (Delhi) 27.92; 3. Mahi Swetraj (Bihar) 28.04

200m butterfly: 1. Apeksha Fernandes (Maharashtra) 2.27.54; Anvesha Girish (Karnataka) 2.28.01; 3. Astha Choudhury (Delhi) 2.30.41

50m breaststroke: 1. Aaliyah Singh (UP) 35.12; 2. Rachana Rao S R (Karnataka) 35.88; 3. R Jaahnavi (TN) 36.44.