Indian swimmers finish with 32 gold at SAF Games

Lekha Kamath scooped up two more yellow metals to finish with six golds, as India drowned all opposition in the pool winning seven of the nine races held on the last day of the event at the tenth south Asian Games on Wednesday.

The 15-year-old Maharashtra girl, who had bagged four gold medals till Tuesday, secured top honours in 50m butterfly besides being a part of the victorious 4x100m Medley Relay team as Indian swimmers drowned two Games marks to bolster their gold haul to 32.

The other teams could manage only six gold meals as the curtains came down on the five-day swimming event.

In men's 400m individual medley, Rehan Poncha set a new Games record en route to the 400m Individual Medley gold with a time of 4:37/04 seconds, reminding his rivals in the pool of his form and fitness ahead of the Doha Asian Games in December.

The bespectacled youngster erased the mark of compatriot J Abhijith who had clocked 4:42.57 in 1995.

The silver went to India's Arjun Jayaprakash who clocked 4:48.84 while the bronze was won by Pakistan's Nisar Ahmed with a timing of 4:52.25.

In women's 200m freestyle, Pooja Alva showed her class by racing her way to the gold with a timing of 2:14.65.

Finishing second best was India's Neeraja Balakrishna with a time of 2:15.96 while Pakistan's Kiran Khan bagged the bronze clocking 2:18.67.

In men's 200m freestyle, Virdhawal Khade emulated Poncha, bagging the gold with a new SA Games record. Khade clocked 1:59.07 seconds to erase the mark of 1:59.08 set by compatriot S H Abdullah in the 1999 edition.

India made it a 1-2 finish for themselves with Amar Muralidharan picking the silver with an effort of 1:59.23. The bronze went to Heshan Unamboowe (2:02.74) of Sri Lanka.

In women's 50m butterfly, Kamath added to her impressive kitty by winning gold with a time of 29.71 seconds. Pakistan's veteran swimmer and team captain Sana Wahid bagged the silver clocking 32.87 while local girl Miniruwani Samarakoon had to be content with the bronze with an effort of 33.06.

The men's 50m breaststroke saw Bangladesh's Shahjahan Ali upset India's Sandeep Sejwal and bag the gold with a time of 30.43 seconds. Sejwal was three seconds adrfit at 30.46. The bronze was won by Md Niaz Ali, also of Bangladesh, with 31.52.

In women's 50m breaststroke, 14-year-old Sri Lankan swimming prodigy Mayumi Raheem made it a hat-trick of golds, clinching top honour with a new national record time of 34.97.

Doli Akhter of Bangladesh finished runner up with 36.14 while her compatriot Mahfuza Kahtun bagged the bronze (36.87).

Arjun Muralidharan finished on the top of the podium in 50m backstroke clocking 28.28. Rubel Rana of Bangladesh, who had a good day in the pool, picked the silver with 28.40 seconds while Heshan Unamboowe claimed the bronze with 28.86.

In women's 4x100m Medley Relay, the Indian quartet of Fariha Zaman, V Tejaswini, Kamath and Paritha Parekh won the gold, clocking 4: 40.42 sec. Pakistan finished second with 4:57.97, and the hosts came third in 4:49.12.

The Indian men also ensured a top podium finish in 4x100m Medley race, covering the distance in 4:00.42. The silver went to Pakistan (4:11.64) and Nepal bagged the bronze (4:06.90).