Tokyo: Indian swimmer Srihari Natraj finished 10th in the men’s 50m backstroke final at the Asian Games at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre on Monday, clocking 25.52 seconds.
China’s Xu Jiayu won the gold medal in a Games-record time of 24.04 seconds. His compatriot Wang Zicheng took silver in 24.49 seconds, while South Korea’s Jihwan Yoon won bronze in 24.54 seconds.
Natraj made a strong start and stayed with the leading swimmers early in the race but slipped back during the second half to finish nearly 1.5 seconds behind the gold medallist.
The Indian swimmer had qualified for the final after finishing joint ninth in the heats with a time of 25.37 seconds. Rishabh Das clocked 25.41 seconds to finish 10th overall in the heats and missed the final after being named the first reserve.
India also missed out on the men’s 50m freestyle final, with Akash Mani and Heer Gitesh Shah finishing 26th and 28th, respectively. Mani recorded 23.43 seconds, while Shah clocked 23.57 seconds.
In the men’s 100m breaststroke heats, Danush Suresh finished 22nd in 1:03.46 and failed to qualify for the final.
India’s men’s 4x200m freestyle relay team of Dhakshan Shashikumar, Sajan Prakash, Aneesh Sunil and Vedaant Mahadevan also missed the final and were placed as the first reserves.
India is competing in 14 individual swimming events along with the men’s 4x100m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle and 4x100m medley relays.
Natraj and Sajan Prakash are among the most experienced swimmers in the Indian squad. Natraj represented India at the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympics, while Sajan competed at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
India has not entered any women swimmers at the 2026 Asian Games. The Indian swimming team is also looking to end a 12-year wait for an Asian Games medal. Sandeep Sejwal was the last Indian swimmer to win a continental medal, taking bronze in the men’s 50m breaststroke at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.
At the Hangzhou 2023 Asian Games, Indian swimmers returned without a medal despite setting six national records.
