Date:30/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/30/stories/2008103057422000.htm

Sport - Swimming

Poncha to lead challenge

BANGALORE: Rehan Poncha will head Karnataka’s challenge in the 62nd senior National aquatic championship at Hyderabad from November 5 to 10. Poncha won the ‘Best Swimmer’ award in the last senior Nationals at Panaji where Karnataka emerged as overall champion.

Besides Poncha, Karnataka has a well balanced outfit which includes internationals such as J.P. Arjun, Aaron D’Souza, N.A. Sandeep, Shubha Chittaranjan, Kshipra Mahajan and Pooja R. Alva.

But the absence of Shikha Tandon will be felt. Shikha, who sustained a muscle tear on her left shoulder, has not fully recovered from the injury.

Shikha told The Hindu, “I have decided to skip the Nationals as I do not wish to aggravate the problem, though I feel much better now.”

The teams: Swimming: Men: J.P. Arjun, N.A. Sandeep, Aaron D’Souza, Ashwin Menon, A.P. Gagan, Akshay Krishna, Srinand Srinivas, Rehan Poncha, Aditya Roshan, Akash Rohit and Siddanth Deshmukh.

Women: Shubha Chittranjan, Arhatha Magavi, Kshipra Mahajan, Sushaka Pratap, Navya G. Shenoy, Madhavi Giri, Prerna S. Jain, V. Tejaswini and Pooja R. Alva.

Diving: Men: Shivaraj A. Mohite, T. Anil Raj and J. Kumar.

Women: Karishma M. Mohite and Nammi Divya Theja.

Waterpolo: Men: G. Vilas Popat, S.K. Sikdar, J.N. Vaidya, Kiran Parida, Akhil Joseph, A. Jayaram, S. Sandeep, Ramprasad, Mahesh, M.S.Vignesh, Avinash and M. Satish Kumar.

Women: Eekshitha Prasad, S. Nita, Malavika Gubbi, Varshini Gubbi, Sowbhagyalakshmi, Saraswathi Holla, Samraddha Alva, R.T. Renu, M.S. Shruthi and Prarthana, Dhruvitha, Swetha and S. Rochani.