Khelo India : Assam's Shivangi Sarma bags third gold amid Karnataka's dominance in swimming

Seventeen-year-old Shivangi won the Girls U-21 400m Freestyle with a timing of 4:34.55 to bag the top medal, defeating Tamil Nadu's Bhavika Dugar (4:55.64) and Haryana's Jasmine Gurung (5:06.31), who won the silver and bronze medals respectively.

Karnataka's Khushi Dinesh (4:35.28) also bagged her third gold medal of the Khelo India Youth Games as she won the Girls U-17 400m Freestyle, with Tamil Nadu's V Varsha (4:38.91) and Maharashtra's Kiara Bangera (4:38.95) finishing with the silver and bronze respectively.

“I am very fortunate to have the full support of my parents, and I believe that I have been able to win the medals here because of the hard work I have put in on a consistent basis. I am also happy to have won my third gold medal for Assam, it is something that I have always wanted to do. However, looking at the bigger picture, it is just the start for me, and I aim to represent India at many international competitions, and bring laurels to the nation,” Shivangi said.

Shivangi – a student of the Bal Bharti School in New Delhi, said that – “It is obviously a tough thing for any athlete to stay away from their family and their home for such a long time, but that's the sacrifice that we all have to make. I am presently based out of Delhi, and it is because I get to use the best facilities and coaching there at the Talkatora Stadium.”

On Friday, Shivangi had won her first two gold medals in the Girls U-21 200m Freestyle and Girls U-21 800m Freestyle events to help hosts Assam rise in the medals tally.

On the other hand, Srihari Nataraj from Karnataka win the Gold in the Boys U-21 100m Backstroke with a timing of 56.53.

West Bengal's Swadesh Mondal was also among the medals as he won his second gold by winning the Boys U-21 400m Medley with a timing of 4:35.36.

Karnataka's Nina Venkatesh also won her second gold by winning the Girls U-17 100m Backstroke with a timing of 1:06.47. Delhi's Tanmay Das finished first in the Boys U-21 100m Backstroke with a timing of 59.08.

Boys Under-21

100m Backstroke: 1. Srihari Nataraj (Karnataka) 56.53; 2. Soumyajit Saha (West Bengal) 1:00.03; 3. Nanak Moolchandani (Madhya Pradesh) 1:02.06.

400m Medley: 1. Shivaksh Sahu (Chhattisgarh) 4:47.15; 2. Anurag Singh (Delhi) 4:49.38; 3. Rudraksh Sahu (Chhattisgarh) 5:06.07.

Girls Under-21

100m Backstroke: 1. Soubrity Mondal (West Bengal) 1:06.71; 2. Pratyasha Ray (Odisha) 1:09.38; 3. Maana Patel (Gujarat) 1:12.38.

400m Freestyle: 1. Shivangi Sarma (Assam) 4:35.55; 2. Bhavika Dugar (Tamil Nadu) 4:55.64; 3. Jasmine Gurung (Haryana) 5:06.31.

4x100m Freestyle: 1. Maharashtra (Rutuja Talegaonkar, Yugandhra, Radhika Gawde, Sadhvi Dhuri) 4:20.05; 2. Assam (Shivangi Sarma, Sayeda Antara Zaima, Rinita Gogoi, Anubhuti Baruah) 4:23.11; 3. West Bengal (Moumitra Karar, Shrishti Basu, Suchetna Chakraborty, Soubrity Mondal) 4:36.43.

Boys Under-17

100m Backstroke: 1. Tanmay Das (Delhi) 59.08; 2. Vedant Bapna (Maharashtra) 59.56; 3. Sahil Laskar (West Bengal) 59.93.

400m Medley: 1. Swadesh Mondal (West Bengal) 4:35.36; 2. Aneesh S Gowda (Karnataka) 4:48.23; 3. Kalp Bohra (Karnataka) 4:51.90.

1500m Freestyle: 1. Aneesh S Gowda (Karnataka) 16:18.46; 2. Dhyan Balakrishna (Karnataka) 16:49.63; 3. Vedaant Madhavan (Maharashtra) 17:00.79.

Girls Under-17

100m Backstroke: 1. Nina Venkatesh (Karnataka) 1:06.47; 2. Ridhima Virendra Kumar (Karnataka) 1:06.53; 3. Shrungi Bandekar (Goa) 1:08.53.

400m Freestyle: 1. Khushi Dinesh (Karnataka) 4:35.28; 2. V Varsha (Tamil Nadu) 4:38.91; 3. Kiara Bangera (Maharashtra) 4:38.95.

4x100m Freestyle: 1. Maharashtra (Apeksha Fernandes, Kiara Bangera, Kareena Shankta, Kenisha Gupta) 4:05.86; 2. Karnataka (Latiesha Mandanna, Divya Ghosh, Nina Venkatesh, Ridhima Virendra Kumar) 4:09.15; 3. Delhi (Bhavya Sachdeva, Muskan Kaur, Aastha Choudhury, Jhanvi Choudhary) 4:12.46.

(By Hemanta Kumar Nath, Guwahati)