Two gold for India

NEW DELHI, AUG 23: The proud moment for India finally arrived. When the national flag went up twice on a single day, some cheers could be...

NEW DELHI, AUG 23: The proud moment for India finally arrived. When the national flag went up twice on a single day, some cheers could be heard loud and clear, thanks first to Rakhi Mehra and then to M. Usha, who won a gold each in the 100m breast stroke and 100m butterfly events on the penultimate day of the Nutrine Asia-Pacific Swimming and Diving Championship at the Talkatora Pool here today.

This apart, India reaped a rich harvest on this day with a total haul of 20 medals, including four silver and eight bronze in swimming and two silver and four bronze in diving events.

As on the opening day, Chinese Taipei continued their domination to the hilt, claiming 12 gold, 22 silver and nine bronze medals to swell their tally (28-33-26) while China lay behind them in overall medals table with 11 gold, nine silver and four bronze. Hong Kong, now in third spot, were proving their superiority, taking away six gold, four silver and six bronze today for an overall tally of 16-13-15.

Story continues below this ad

While the Indian girls struggled hard to keep the tricolour afloat, the boys were slowly making their presence felt with Kailash Nath, Rehan Poncha, Akbar Ali Mir and Hakimuddin S.H. being among medals.

Though Rakhi and Usha won a gold each, it must be admitted that the events they participated in was devoid of any real competition. But a gold is a gold and as the St. Stephen’s girl put it, “I will have to now think hard on the event. I had almost given up because of a knee injury.” But for the Thrissur girl Usha, it was a nice feeling to add to the silver and bronze she had won yesterday.

Nisha Millet added two silver and a relay bronze but she was happy that she could improve upon her personal best mark in the 200m back. She clocked 2:29.22 against the previous best of 2:30.82 she timed at the Bangalore National Games.

Results

Open (18 and above): Boys: 100 m Breast: 1. Huang Chih Yung (Tpe) 1:07.12; 2. Wu Kun-Lin (Tpe) 1:07.80; 3. Pukhnaty Oleg (Uzb) 1:08.76; 100m Butterfly: 1. Hung Chien-Chih (Tpe) 0:57.22; 2. Szeto Shui Ki (HK) 0:58.84; 3. Ku lok (HK) 0:59.94; 1500m freestyle: 1. Li-Yun Lun (Tpe) 16:25.91; 2. Tsai Ch Wen (Tpe) 16:40.91; 3. Kailash Nath (Ind) 16:47.39; 200m Back: 1. Fong Lik Sun (HK) 2:09.38 (NMR), A. Egorov (Kyr) 2:11.37, 3. K. Poriahom (Kyr) 2:13.93; 200m Free: 1. Fong Lik Sun (HK) 1:56.16, 2. Hung Chien-Chih (Tpe) 1:56.19, 3. Hakimuddin SH (Ind) 1:58.37; 200m Free: Choi Won-Il (Kor) 1:54.97, Wu Nien-Pin (Tpe) 1:56.38, Mark Chay (Sing) 1:56.72, Li Yun-Lun 1:56.72; 4x100MR: 1. Chinese Taipei 4:03.68, 2. Uzbekistan 4:05.06, 3. Singapore 4:09.91.

Story continues below this ad

Girls: 100m Breast: 1. Rakhi Mehra (Ind) 1:29.28; Li Shih-Yu (Tpe) 1:31.90; Nayana Shakya (Nepal) 1:32.40; 100 m Butterfly: 1. M Usha (Ind) 1:13.80; 2. Li Shih-Yu (Tpe) 1:20.13; 3. Stuti Singh (Nepal) 1:32.90; 200m Back: 1. Lin Chi-Chan (Tpe) 2:30.28, 2. Rakhi Mehra (Ind) 2:44.19, R. Chakrabarty (Ind) 2:47.49; 200m Free: 1. Lin Chi-Chan (Tpe) 2:05.28, Mok Wing Yan (HK) 2:16.69, 3. R. Chakrabarty (Ind) 2:24.18; 200m Free: 1. C. Tanatpor (Thi) 2:08.30, Nisha Millet (Ind) 2:09.03, Tsai Hiu Wai (HK) 2:10.03; 4×100 MR: 1. Uzbekistan 4:41.45, Chinese Taipei 4:50.24, India 5:07.59.

Group I (15 to 17) Boys:100 m Freestyle: 1. Mark Chay (Singapore) 0:52.87; 2. Wu Nien-Pin (Tpe) 0:53.09; 3. Choi Won-Il (Kor) 0:53.23; 100m Breast: Cho Kyung-Hwan (Korea) 1.04.68; 2. Yang Shang-Hsuan (Tpe) 1.05.28; Li Cheuk Lun (HK) 1.07.32; 200m Back: Lee Jong Min (Kor) 2:08.11, Wu Nien-Pin (Tpe) 2:10.85, Akbar Ali Mir (Ind) 2:17.59; 4x100MR: Korea 3:55.93 (NMR), Chinese Taipei 4:00.18, Chinese Taipei 4:08.47.

Girls: 100m Freestyle: Tachakittiranan Pilin (Thai) 0.58.63; 2. Tantiniiti Piyaporn (Thai)0.59.62; 3. Tsai Hiu Wai (HK) 0.59.85; 100m breast: Iamsanitamorn Tachaphorn (Thai) 1.15.16; 2. Kao Ting-Yin (Tpe) 1.18.07; 3. Yan Ka Lee (HK) 1.19.18; 200m Back: 1. Tsai Hiu Wai (HK) 2:24.85, 2. Nisha Millet (Ind) 2:29.22, 3. C. Tanatpor (Thai) 2:30.31; 4x100MR: Hong Kong 4:31.91, Chinese Taipei 4:42.00, India 4:48.09.

Group 2 (Boys): 200m Back: Zheng Chen (Chi) 2:18.13, Yang Shun-Chi (Tpe) 2:18.74, Wei Chao-Jung (Tpe) 2:20.45; 200m Free: 1. Hsu Ming Hung (Tpe) 2:00.05, 2. Jaing Bing Ru (Tpe) 2:0069, 3. Chen Tei-Hsi (Tpe) 2:01.19; 4×100 MR: Chinese Taipei 4:10.76, China 4:13.00, Singapore 4:19.38.

Story continues below this ad

Girls: 200m Back: Inu Yen-Ju (TGpe) 2:29.97, C. Choompol (Thai) 2:31.52, Cheng Ju-Hui (Tpe) 2:33.51; 200m Free: Baek Il-Joo (Kor) 2:06.76, Shika Tandon (Ind) 2:10.25, 3. Chorkaew Choompol (Thi) 2:10.95; 4×100 MR: Hong Kong 4:34.81, Chinese Taipei 4:36.678, Singapore 4:43.36.

Group 3: Boys: 200m Free: 1. Nitinun Intratira (Thi) 2:03.29, 2. Chen Kuan-Chang (Tpe) 2:05.49, 3. Duan Ran (Chi) 2:09.27; 4x50MR: China 1:59.38, China 1:59.78, Chinese Taipei 2:01.10

Girls: 200m Free: N. Tangtorrith (Thi) 2:14.37, Yang Chin-Kuei (Tpe) 2:14.47, Chen Zhen (Chi) 2:14.94; 4×50 MR: China 2:05.60, Hong MKong 2:09.58, Chinese Taipei 2:15.19.