Sajan Prakash dazzles at Uzbekistan Open swimming with second gold medal
The Indian swimmer, a Rio Olympian, won the 200m freestyle gold on the second day of the competition in Tashkent. Sajan won the 200m butterfly gold on Tuesday.
A day after pocketing gold in his pet event -- the 200m butterfly -- Indian swimmer Sajan Prakash won the 200m freestyle title at the Uzbekistan Open swimming championships 2021 on Wednesday.
The 2016 Rio Olympian clocked 1:50.74 for the top prize while his club-mate from Aqua Nation Sports Academy in Dubai Tanish Mathew won the bronze medal in 1:52.57.
The 27-year-old Indian swimmer, Sajan Prakash, is returning to competitive swimming after nursing an injured shoulder during the COVID-19 pandemic induced break.
With an eye firmly fixed on making the grade for the Tokyo Olympics, the Indian is keen to make the most of the meets before the qualifying window shuts on June 27. The Uzbekistan Open is an Olympic qualifier.
Meanwhile, in the women’s 200m freestyle, Rio Olympian Shivani Kataria was once again outdone by the young Kenisha Gupta. The 17-year-old Kenisha won the race in 2:06.66 while Shivani came in second with a timing of 2:10.23.
The Mumbai-born Kenisha, who trains under Dronacharya awardee Nihar Ameen, had beaten her senior pro in the 100m freestyle final on the opening day of the meet.
In the 50m breaststroke races, while Likith SP took the silver in men’s half in 28.19 seconds, Dhanush S came in third with a timing of 29.25 seconds. In the women’s race, Chahat Arora won the gold in 33.80 seconds.
In the 50m butterfly finals, Divya Satija won the top prize among women with a timing of 28.74 seconds. Meanwhile, Adhithya D had to be content with a silver in the men’s race. He clocked 25.16 seconds.
Suvana C Baskar took home the 200m backstroke title with a timing of 2:24.78.
One of India’s Olympic hopefuls, Srihari Nataraj will take to the pool on Thursday in the 100m backstroke. The 20-year-old from Bengaluru has clocked the ‘B’ qualification mark in 100m backstroke with a national record at the World Junior Aquatic Championships in 2019.
Srihari is looking to bring it down by 0.85s to 53.85s to make the ‘A’ standard and secure direct qualification for the Tokyo Olympics.
Lead image: Twitter/ Sajan Prakash