Sport - Sports : General

Memorable debut for Man Kiran Kaur

— PHOTO: P.V. SIVAKUMAR

GREAT DEBUT: Man Kiran Kaur of Punjab after winning the 50m breaststroke event.

HYDERABAD: Rehan Poncha of Karnataka set a new meet record in the 200m butterfly event of the 62nd LIC-senior National aquatics championship at the GMC Balayogi swimming pool (Gachibowli) here on Thursday.

The 22-year-old swimmer, who revealed that he was not keen on participating but was egged on by his coach to compete in at least any two events, came up with a record timing of 2:02.19.

He eclipsed the previous record of 2:03.05 set by Arjun Murlidhar of Police in 2007, to pick his third gold in this edition. “With three gold medals already in my kitty, I am focussing on winning at least two more,” said the delighted swimmer.

Earlier, M.A. Divase of Police set a new meet record in the 800m freestyle at 8:31.61 beating Rohit Havaldar’s previous best of 8:33.74 set in 2007.

For 15-year-old Man Kiran Kaur of Punjab, it was a memorable debut in the senior Nationals, winning the gold in the 50m breaststroke with a timing of 37.35s. The ninth standard student of Golden Earth School (Sangrur) said she was confident of winning the gold and dedicated it to her coach Balbir Singh. “With three more events lined up, I am keen to come up with some special efforts,” said Man Kiran.

The most surprising performance of the evening came from 25-year-old Puneet Rana of Punjab. For someone who was taking part in the senior Nationals after a gap of four years because of work commitment, Puneet clinched the gold in the 50m breaststroke category in 29.65s.

He overcame a spirited challenge from J.P. Arjun of Karnataka (29.70s) and Rohit Kumar of Police (29.96s).

“It was a highly satisfying race as I had come straight from Delhi without any regular practice just to take a break from office,” said an elated Puneet. He had won three gold medals in the 2004 Nationals. Interestingly, he is not keen to compete in anymore events.

The results (all finals): Men: 800m freestyle: 1. M.A. Divase (Police) 8:31.61 (NMR), 2. A.P. Gagan (Kar) 8:45.54, 3. Merwyn Chen (Dli) 9:02.19. 200m butterfly: 1. Rehan Poncha (Kar) 2:02.19 (NMR), 2. Aaron D’ Souza (Kar) 2:04.09, 3. Aditya Sangvekar (RSPB) 2:12.07. 50m breaststroke: 1. Puneet Rana (Pun) 29.65s, 2. J.P. Arjun (Kar) 29.70s, 3. Rohit Kumar (Police) 29.96s.

Diving: High board: 1. Keshav Shinde (RSPB) 288.75 pts, 2. Himanshu Tiwari (RSPB) 256.85 pts, 3. Madan S. Jawalekar (Police) 232.00 pts.

Women: 400m freestyle: 1. Richa Mishra (Police) 4:38.73, 2. Sushaka Pratap (Kar) 4:43.12, 3. Navya G. Shenoy (Kar) 4:43.19. 200m butterfly: 1. Aratha Magavi (Kar) 2:21.37, 2. Pooja R. Alva (Kar) 2:27.17, 3. Vandita Dhariyal (Guj) 2:35.92. 50m breaststroke: 1. Man Kiran Kaur (Pun) 37.35s, 2. Poorva Shetye (Mah) 37.75s, 3. M.M. Venpa (TN) 38.15s.

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