Date:11/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/11/stories/2008111156551700.htm

Sport - Sports : General

Rehan Poncha and Richa Mishra emerge the best

Special Correspondent

AQUATICS / Karnataka wins the overall team championships

— PHOTO: K. RAMESH BABU

BEST OF THE LOT: Rehan Poncha (Karnataka) and Richa Mishra (Police) pose with their best swimmer trophies in Hyderabad on Monday.

HYDERABAD: Rehan Poncha of Karnataka and Richa Mishra of Police with 35 points each were adjudged the best men’s and women’s swimmers in the LIC 62nd National aquatic championships which concluded at the G.M.C. Balayogi stadium sports complex here on Monday.

Rehan Poncha got this award for the second year running. He said he was delighted to have finished on such a high note.

He said he has his sights set on the 2010 Commonwealth Games to be held in Delhi and the London Olympic Games to be held in 2012.

For Richa it was her second hat-trick at the senior Nationals and she has clearly proved herself to be the best women swimmer in the country right now.

Reigning champion Karnataka won the team championship in the men’s and the women’s sections and also the overall title with a total tally of 381 points.

Railways made a clean sweep in diving. Its diver Hariprasad registered 269.05 points to bag the gold in the 1m springboard diving. In the water polo event Railways won the men’s gold while Police won the women’s title.

The results (all finals):

Men: 1,500m freestyle: 1. Mandar Anand Divase (Pol) 16:17.07s (NR), 2. A.P. Gagan (Kar) 16:32.04s (BMR), 3. Srianand Srinivas (Kar) 17:05.55s. (OMR: Mandar Divase, 16:32.44S, 2005).

200m breaststroke: 1. J. Agnishwar (TN) 2:26.94s, 2. Rohit Kumar (Pol) 2:27.79, 3. S.P. Lenka (SSCB) 2:32.25s. 100m butterfly: 1. Aaron D’Souza (Kar) 56.03s, 2. Siddant Deshmukh (Kar) 57.97s, 3. Somar Mondal (SSCB) 59.00s.

Diving: 1m springboard: 1. Hariprasad (RSPB) 269.05 points, 2. K.H. Ranju (SSCB) 264.95 pts, 3. S. Rabi Kumar Singh (RSPB) 261.95 pts.

Water polo: 1. RSPB, 2. SSCB, 3. Police.

Women: 400m individual medley: 1. Pooja R. Alva (Kar) 5:23.74s, 2. Sushaka Pratap (Kar) 5:35.71s, 3. M.M. Venpa (TN) 5:41.89s.

200m breaststroke: 1. V. Tejaswini (Kar) 2:54.79s, 2. M. Raghavi (TN) 2:56.10s, 3. Krunal Bose (Mah) 2:56.39s.

100m freestyle: 1. C. Shubha (Kar) 1:00.81s, 2. Talasha Prabhu (Goa) 1:01.54s, 3. Arhatha Magavi (Kar) 1:02.83s.

Water Polo: 1. Police, 2. Kerala, 3. Karnataka.

Best swimmer: Men: Rehan Poncha (Kar) 35 points. Women: Richa Mishra (Pol) 35 points.

Team championship: Swimming: Men: Karnataka 191 points. Women: Karnataka 190 points.

Overall championship: Karnataka 381 points.

Diving team championship: Men: Railways 35 points. Women: Railways 26 points.