Virdhawal Khade Tuesday qualified for the men’s 50-metre butterfly final in the Asian Games at the Aoti Aquatics Centre here Tuesday.
Khade topped his heat by clocking 24.56 seconds, which was the fifth best timing among the eight qualified. Khade Monday missed a bronze in the men’s 50-metre freestyle with a stroke, he was just 0.03 seconds off the pace, behind Japanese Rammaru Harada, who won the bronze with 22.84 seconds.
Another Indian, Anshul Kothari also topped his heat in 50 metres butterfly, clocking 26.08 secs but it was not enough for him to make the final cut as it was behind the qualifying mark.
In the men’s 100-metre backstroke heats, Rehan Poncha (59.38 secs) finished sixth and Badrinath Melkote (59.62 secs) seventh.
Mandar Anandrao Divase finished eighth (4:08.22 secs) in the men’s 400 metres freestyle heats.
The men’s 4x100 metres freestyle relay team, Aaron Agnel Dsouza, Arjun Jayaprakash, Anshul Kothari and Khade finished fourth in the heats with a timing of 3:29.71.
