Karnataka's Nataraj claims sixth gold in 100m freestyle at National Games

Olympian Srihari Nataraj ended his campaign in the National Games swimming competition with his sixth gold medal in the men’s 100m freestyle at the Sardar Patel Aquatics Complex here on Saturday.

Nataraj won in 50.41 seconds, a new National Games record. Through the week, the swimmer from Karnataka watched his senior Sajan Prakash (Kerala) claim five gold, two silver and a bronze medal.

On Saturday, Nataraj stormed to a 100m freestyle win with Sajan finishing seventh.

He accomplished his mission of claiming the two freestyle sprint gold medals to add to the two backstroke titles besides anchoring Karnataka relay squads to two gold.

SP Likhit made a clean sweep of the three men’s breaststroke events by winning the 100m event, helping Services to increase their haul of gold to 44 so far and maintain a gap with second-placed Haryana, who have 30 gold.

Maharashtra continued their bid to challenge Haryana, with just two gold medals fewer.

Karnataka have risen to the fourth spot with 23 gold medals, including 19 from the Aquatics competitions.

Tamil Nadu, whose 4x100m Medley relay squad defeated Karnataka in the final event of the Aquatics competition for the team’s only gold from the swimming pool, are in fifth place on the medal table.

A 2-0 win for Gujarat men in the Soft Tennis final against Madhya Pradesh saw the host state end the day with an unprecedented 11 gold medals so far.

Mohit Sherawat clinches 81kg judo gold despite dislocated shoulder

In Gandhinagar, Delhi Judoka Mohit Sherawat went for broke despite fighting with a dislocated right shoulder in his semifinal and final bouts to win the 81kg class gold.

The National champion had dislocated his shoulder midway through the quarterfinal against Sarabjit Singh of Punjab.

Cycling

In Road Cycling competition, Karnataka ace Naveen John successfully defended the men’s Individual Time Trial, while Manipur’s Tongbram Monorama Devi overcame fever and headache to sprint ahead of Chayanika Gogoi (Assam) and Pooja Baban Danole (Maharashtra) to win the Women 85km Road Race.

Waterpolo

In Water Polo competition, Services and Maharashtra rallied to win the men’s and women’s gold medals.

Services recovered to defeat Kerala 10-8 with two last-minute goals in a nail-biting men’s final, while Maharashtra women beat Kerala 5-3 in the last round robin match to win the title.

Tamil Nadu’ S Vaishnavi claimed the women’s Artistic Yogasana gold with 134.22 points, to be flanked on the podium by Maharashtra duo Chhakuli Bansilal Selokar (127.68) and Purva Shriram Kinare (126.68), who had sneaked into the final as the last qualifier.

Hockey

In men’s Hockey, Karnataka beat hosts Gujarat 11-2 to earn a semifinal outing with Haryana, who showed Tamil Nadu the exit with a 3-0 victory.

Uttar Pradesh edged out West Bengal via the penalty shootout after the thriller ended 1-1 in regular play. Uttar Pradesh will meet Maharashtra who beat Jharkhand in the last quarterfinal.

Boxing

In boxing, four home boxers – Asifali Asgharli Syed (57kg), Minaxi Bhanushali (57kg) Paramjit Kaur (66kg) and Ruchita Rajput (75kg) – have made it to the quarterfinals.

Former national champion Krishna Thapa, who was roped in a few months before the Games to monitor the State team, is confident that the sporting extravaganza will infuse life into boxing in Gujarat.