Srihari Nataraj, as promised, delivered the gold in the men’s 100m backstroke, but fell short of the A-mark Olympic Qualification Time on the third day of the 10th Asian Age Group swimming championship here on Thursday.
The 55.06 he swam was faster than the previous meet record by 0.83 seconds but was more than a second off the time required to secure an Olympic berth (53.85).
Later, he finished a creditable third in the 100m freestyle (50.91), a race in which Virdhawal Khade secured the silver with 50.68.
Fourth gold for Kushagra
Kushagra Rawat, meanwhile, continued his gold-winning spree by finishing first in 400m freestyle.
India won four gold, four silver and four bronze medals on Thursday to take its tally to 40 (12G, 16S, 12B).
The results (Indians unless specified):
Men: Freestyle: 100m: 1. Khurshidjon Tursunov (Uzb) 50.56, 2. Virdhawal Khade, 50.68, 3. Srihari Nataraj 50.91; 400m: 1. Khushagra Rawat 3:55.81, 2. Chang Cheng Li Wei (Tpe) 3:56.89, 3. Abbas Omar (Syr) 4:01.52; Backstroke: 100m: 1. Srihari Nataraj 55.06 (NMR; OR: Sudartawa, 55.89, 2015, 2. Atayev Merdan (Trk) 55.28, 3. Lau Shiu Yue (Hkg) 57.56; Butterfly:200m: 1. Sajan Prakash 2:00.38, 2. Wongcharoen Navaphat (Tha) 2:01.16, 3. Klzie Ayman (Syr) 2:02.38; 4x100m medley: 1. India 3:46.49, 2. Thailand 3:48.89, Hong Kong 3:53.99.
Women: Freestyle: 100m: 1. Junkrajang Natthanan (Tha) 57.23; 2. Nguyen Diep Phuong Tram (Vie) 57.87, 3. Srisa Ard Jenjira (Tha) 58.93; 400m: 1. Junkrajang Natthanan (Tha) 4:23.45, 2. Himathongkom Ammiga (Tha) 4:26.97, 3. Shivani Kataria 4:27.16; Backstroke: 100m: 1. Nguyen Diep Phuong Tram (Vie) 1:04.89, 2. Maana Patel 1:05.08, 3. Boonamphai Saovanee (Tha) 1:05.55; Butterfly: 200m: 1. Kittiya Patarawadee (Tha) 2:19.17, 2. Nimdam Kanitta (Tha) 2:25.23, 3. Wong Ching Lam Athena (Hkg) 2:25.23; 4x100m medley: 1. Thailand 4:23.23, 2. India 4:26.69, 3. Hong Kong 4:31.19.
4x100 mixed freestyle: 1. Japan 3:46.29, 2. Hong Kong 3:48.48, 3. Thailand 3:50.98.
Other Indian medallists: Group I: Boys: Butterfly: 200m: 2. Tanish George (Ind) 2:03.31; Group II: Boys: Backstroke: 200m: 3. Devansh Parmar 2:12.90; Girls: Breaststroke: 200m: 3. Apeksha Fernandes 2:40.38 .
