Assam's Shivangi Sarma bags third gold amid Karnataka’s dominance in swimming

Guwahati: Assamese swimmer Shivangi Sarma, who won two gold medals on the opening day of the swimming competitions, continued to dominate proceedings here at the Dr. Zakir Hussain Aquatic Centre as she bagged her third gold medal of the Khelo India Youth Games 2020 amid stiff competition from Karnataka. The 17-year-old won the Girls U21 400m Freestyle with a timing of 4:34.55 to bag the top medal, defeating Tamil Nadu's Bhavika Dugar (4:55.64) and Haryana's Jasmine Gurung (5:06.31), who bagged the silver and bronze medals respectively. Karnataka's Khushi Dinesh (4:35.28) also bagged her third gold medal of the KIYG as she won the Girls U-17 400m Freestyle, with Tamil Nadu's V Varsha (4:38.91) and Maharashtra's Kiara Bangera (4:38.95) finishing with the silver and bronze respectively.
 
Speaking about her victory, Shivangi said the medals were a result of the hard work she has consistently put in. "I am very fortunate to have the full support of my parents, and I believe that I have been able to win the medals here because of the hard work I have put in on a consistent basis. I am also happy to have won my third gold medal for Assam, it is something that I have always wanted to do. However, looking at the bigger picture, it is just the start for me, and I aim to represent India at many international competitions, and bring laurels to the nation," the energetic swimmer said.
 
Shivangi, who is a student of the Bal Bharti School in New Delhi, says that like a lot of other athletes, she is forced to stay away from her family as she needs to practice. "It is obviously a tough thing for any athlete to stay away from their family and their home for such a long time, but that's the sacrifice that we all have to make. I am presently based out of Delhi, and it is because I get to use the best facilities and coaching there at the Talkatora Stadium," said Shivangi.
 
On Friday, Shivangi had won her first two gold medals in the Girls U21 200m Freestyle and Girls U21 800m Freestyle events to help hosts Assam rise in the medals tally.
 
Other results on Saturday here at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex saw India's brightest prospect Srihari Nataraj from Karnataka win the Gold in the Boys U-21 100m Backstroke with a timing of 56.53. West Bengal's Swadesh Mondal was also among the medals as he won his second gold by winning the Boys U-21 400m Medley with a timing of 4:35.36. While, Karnataka's Nina Venkatesh also won her second gold by winning the Girls U-17 100m Backstroke with a timing of 1:06.47. Delhi's Tanmay Das finished first in the Boys U-21 100m Backstroke with a timing of 59.08.
 
Please find below the full results from Saturday:
 
Boys under-21
100m Backstroke: 1. Srihari Nataraj (Karnataka) 56.53; 2. Soumyajit Saha (West Bengal) 1:00.03; 3. Nanak Moolchandani (Madhya Pradesh) 1:02.06.
400m Medley: 1. Shivaksh Sahu (Chhattisgarh) 4:47.15; 2. Anurag Singh (Delhi) 4:49.38; 3. Rudraksh Sahu (Chhattisgarh) 5:06.07.
 
Girls under-21
100m Backstroke: 1. Soubrity Mondal (West Bengal) 1:06.71; 2. Pratyasha Ray (Odisha) 1:09.38; 3. Maana Patel (Gujarat) 1:12.38.
400m Freestyle: 1. Shivangi Sarma (Assam) 4:35.55; 2. Bhavika Dugar (Tamil Nadu) 4:55.64; 3. Jasmine Gurung (Haryana) 5:06.31.
4x100m Freestyle: 1. Maharashtra (Rutuja Talegaonkar, Yugandhra, Radhika Gawde, Sadhvi Dhuri) 4:20.05; 2. Assam (Shivangi Sarma, Sayeda Antara Zaima, Rinita Gogoi, Anubhuti Baruah) 4:23.11; 3. West Bengal (Moumitra Karar, Shrishti Basu, Suchetna Chakraborty, Soubrity Mondal) 4:36.43.
 
Boys under-17
100m Backstroke: 1. Tanmay Das (Delhi) 59.08; 2. Vedant Bapna (Maharashtra) 59.56; 3. Sahil Laskar (West Bengal) 59.93.
400m Medley: 1. Swadesh Mondal (West Bengal) 4:35.36; 2. Aneesh S Gowda (Karnataka) 4:48.23; 3. Kalp Bohra (Karnataka) 4:51.90.
1500m Freestyle: 1. Aneesh S Gowda (Karnataka) 16:18.46; 2. Dhyan Balakrishna (Karnataka) 16:49.63; 3. Vedaant Madhavan (Maharashtra) 17:00.79.
 
Girls under-17
100m Backstroke: 1. Nina Venkatesh (Karnataka) 1:06.47; 2. Ridhima Virendra Kumar (Karnataka) 1:06.53; 3. Shrungi Bandekar (Goa) 1:08.53.
400m Freestyle: 1. Khushi Dinesh (Karnataka) 4:35.28; 2. V Varsha (Tamil Nadu) 4:38.91; 3. Kiara Bangera (Maharashtra) 4:38.95.
4x100m Freestyle: 1. Maharashtra (Apeksha Fernandes, Kiara Bangera, Kareena Shankta, Kenisha Gupta) 4:05.86; 2. Karnataka (Latiesha Mandanna, Divya Ghosh, Nina Venkatesh, Ridhima Virendra Kumar) 4:09.15; 3. Delhi (Bhavya Sachdeva, Muskan Kaur, Aastha Choudhury, Jhanvi Choudhary) 4:12.46.