Bengaluru: Hosts Jain University soared to the top of the medal table, courtesy four golds in swimming won so far at the Khelo India University Games 2021. The swimming events on Monday also saw six new KIUG records.
Nataraj won gold in the 50m freestyle in a time of 23.23 seconds, breaking Mihir Ambre’s record (23.78) from the previous edition in style. This was also his fastest time in an individual race in the event. Nataraj’s win added gloss to a dominant performance from the hosts in the pool.
At the end of day 2, 17 universities had already won a gold and as many as 41 had marked their presence on the medal table.
The action started in the pool. With 10 medals up for grabs in swimming, the first went to Savitribai Phule Pune University’s Shubham Dhaygude in the Men’s 400m freestyle. Soon though it was time for the hosts to shine and make a dent on the medal table. They did just that.
First up was Siva Sridhar who won not just gold, but also in the process set a new KIUG record time of 2:05.43 in the 200m Individual Medley. Sridhar would repeat this win-record double in the 100m backstrokes later in the day.
The hosts swimming team are expected to win a bulk of medals at the games. Sridhar acknowledged the pressure but also said that it was an opportunity for swimmers to ‘give back to an institution that has supported them heavily. “The University backs us tremendously by providing scholarships, so the onus is on us now to do well,” he said.
In the day’s final event in the pool, Shivaji University’s Rujuta Khade broke yet another KIUG record in the women’s 50m freestyle, with a time of 27.38. She broke Sadhvi Dhuri’s mark from Bhubaneshwar by nearly six-tenths of a second. Shivaji University sits in second place on the medal table with three golds, one silver and one bronze.
Punjabi University, the overall winners at the KIUG 2020, won their first gold at this edition, via Ishneet Aulakh in the women’s 25m individual pistol. Aulakh and her team were beaten to silver in the team event by their state rivals Panjab University.
Following Komal Kohar’s win yesterday, Maharshi Dayanand University logged another gold in women’s weightlifting Sneha winning the 59kg class. Krishna University’s Juturi Koteswara Rao registered Krishna University’s first-ever gold at the games in the women’s 73kg class. Rao had won silver in the women’s 67kg at the last edition.
Earlier in the day, Bharathiar University scored a massive upset in the women’s volleyball semifinals, toppling SRM University (bronze medallist in the All India Inter-University Championships 2021) 3-0. Bharathiar will face state rivals SRM University in the finals tomorrow. The latter is the defending All India Inter-University Championships 2021.
There will be 22 medals up for grabs on Day 3 of the games, swimming, weightlifting and volleyball among those offering them.
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