Indian swimmers to the fore

Justifying their favourite tag yet again, Indian swimmers sank three meet records on the way to winning seven of the eight gold medals on offer at the 10th South Asian Games in Colombo on Tuesday.

Having claimed half a dozen of the titles on each of the first three days, India's golden tally from the event stood at 25, leaving only four for the other participating nations.

Rehan Poncha won the men's 200m individual medley gold, setting a new meet mark of 2:11.22 seconds. He erased the existing record of 2:11.27 seconds, held by compatriot J Abhijeeth.

Nisar Ahmed of Pakistan and Bangladesh swimmer Rubel Rana took the silver and bronze respectively. Nisar timed 2:16.26 seconds, while Rana finished the race in 2:16.62 seconds.

Indian girl Fariha Zaman created a new Games mark in the 200m backstroke with a timing of 2 min 31.49 seconds. Her compatriot Madhavi Giri (2 min 32.45 sec) took the silver, while Pakistan's Kiran Khan (2 min 40.49 seconds) got the bronze.

Another meet record was shattered in the men's 200m butterfly, where Arjun Muralidharan swam to glory by bettering the existing mark. He clocked 2 min 05.06 seconds, pushing compatriot Rehan Poncha (2 min 07.33 seconds) and Pakistan's Nasir Ali (2 min 12.97 seconds) to the silver and bronze respectively. 

In a test of endurance, Mandar Divase won the title in the men's 1500m freestyle with a timing of 15 min 17.58 seconds. The country got a second medal in the event, with Rohit Hawladar picking the silver clocking 16 min 43.59 seconds. The bronze went to Pakistan's Mehboob Ali, who took 17 min 48.31 seconds to traverse the distance.

India also claimed the yellow metal in 400m freestyle, where Kishipra Mahajan won in 2 min 40.72 seconds. It was a 1-2 for the country as Puja Alva (2 min 42.98 seconds) won the silver, leaving Pakistan's Kiran Jahan (2 min 54.56 secos) to take the bronze.

Vir Dhaval Khader added to the golden tally, coming first in the 100m freestyle for men with a timing of 52.71 seconds, followed by Sri Lanka's Daniel Lee (55.75 secs) and Bangladesh's Rezaul (55.83 seconds) who got the silver and bronze respectively.

Bringing the curtain down on a fine day in the pool, the Indians were runaway winners in the women's 4x800m freestyle relay.

The Indian quartet of Neerja Balakrishna, Surabhi Tipre, Kishipra Mahajan and Puja Alva finished the long race in 9:18.76 seconds. Sri Lanka (9:38.41 seconds) and Pakistan (9:53.40 seconds) got the silver and bronze respectively.

In the midst of India's all-conquering show, Sri Lankan girl Mayumi Rahim gave the hosts something to cheer for as she clinched the honours in the women's 200m breaststroke, registering a timing of 2 min 45.24 seconds. India's V Tejaswini (2 min 46.72 seconds) had to be satisfied with the silver, while Bangladesh's D Akhtar (2 min 58.17 seconds) bagged the bronze.