The Hindu : Senthil picks up bronze

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Oct 30, 2003

Sport

Sport - Afro-Asian Games

Senthil picks up bronze

By Our Sports Reporter

HYDERABAD OCT. 29. Mizuki Wakayabashi of Japan picked his third gold of the Afro-Asian Games swimming competition by winning the 100m backstroke event with a timing of 0:56.26 at the Swarnandhra Pradesh Sports Complex swimming pool here today.

The 22-year-old Tokyo resident, who is Japan's No. 2 swimmer, has been having a whale of a time here. But today's gold medal winning performance was below his previous personal best of 0:55.48 recorded in the Japan inter-college swimming championship early this year. Japan's Yoshi Ki Kano settled for the silver (0:58.24).

This race also saw the Indian tri-colour flying high for Thiruvananthapuram's T. Senthil Kumar picked the bronze with a timing of 1:02.04. "It is a miracle that I could win the medal. It was a very tough race," he remarked later.

Senthil Kumar, the seven-time National champion and also the winner of three gold medals in the last National Games, is more than pleased with the show for he was carrying a back pain. "I dedicate this to my family and to the coach Pradeep Kumar," he said. Senthil's timing is below his previous best of 1:01.16, recorded in the 1997 senior Nationals.

Algerian Sofiane Daid bagged his second gold in the Games by winning the 50m breaststroke race with a timing of 0:29.22. He was followed by Malik Fall of Senegal (0:29.45) and Eric Williams of Nigeria (0:29.83).

It was yet another disappointing outing for Richa Misra who failed to match her stunning National Games performance. She had to settle for the fourth position in the 100m butterfly (1:05.25). Nisha Millet, too, could only attain only a fourth place in the 100m backstroke event. By all means, it was a disappointing day for India on the whole as it had to settle only for a bronze taking it's overall tally so far to 16 (seven silver and nine bronze).

The results:

50m breaststroke: Women: 1. Ziada Jardine (South Africa) 0:33.12, 2. Jung Seul Ki (Korea) 0:33.97, 3. Ingrid Gail Haiden (South Africa) 0:34.04. Men: 1. Sofiane Daid (Algeria) 0:29.22, 2. Malik Fall (Senegal) 0:29.45, 3. Eric Williams (Nigeria) 0:29.83.

100m backstroke: Women: 1. Nozomi Nobe (Japan) 1:04.34, 2. Bang Eun Gi (Korea) 1:05.70, 3. Inyenginikabo Obia (Nigeria) 1:07.78. Men: 1. Mizuki Wakabayashi (Japan) 0:56.26, 2. Yoshi Ki Kanno (Japan) 0:58.26, 3. T. Senthil Kumar (India) 1:02.04.

100m butterfly: Women: 1. Lauren Sparg (South Africa) 1:03.01, 2. Chanella Van Wyk (South Africa) 1:04.17, 3. Luisa Gavazzi (Zimbabwe) 1:05.25. Men: 1. Aghiles Slimani (Algeria) 0:56.58, 2. Nabil Kebab (Algeria) 0:57.44, 3. Lubrey Lim Yu Lung (Malaysia) 0:57.45.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport