India’s wait for an Asian Games swimming medal continued on Sunday after Rishabh Das finished sixth in the men’s 100m backstroke final at the Aichi-Nagoya Games.
Das clocked 54.77 seconds in the final but could not match the pace of the leading swimmers. China’s Jiayu Xu won the gold medal after touching the wall in 51.98 seconds. Japan’s Hidekazu Takehara claimed silver with a time of 53.93 seconds, while South Korea’s Juho Lee secured bronze in 53.94 seconds.
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Das had produced a strong performance in the heats to book his place in the final. He finished fifth overall with a time of 54.85 seconds after placing third in Heat 3. He was 0.42 seconds behind Lee, who eventually won the bronze medal.
Xu had topped the overall qualifying standings in the heats with a time of 52.63 seconds.
India’s Utkarsh Patil narrowly missed out on a place in the final. He finished sixth in his heat and 12th overall with a timing of 56.19 seconds.
India also failed to make an impact in the men’s 100m freestyle heats. Rohit Benedicton clocked 50.25 seconds to finish 12th overall and secured a reserve position. Aksha Mani recorded 50.85 seconds and finished eighth in his heat.
Das, however, still has more events to contest at the Asian Games. He will return to action in the men’s 50m backstroke on Monday, where he will compete alongside Olympian Srihari Natraj. He is also scheduled to feature in India’s men’s 4x100m medley relay team.
Other Indian swimmers will also be involved in Monday’s events. Aksha Mani and Heer Gitesh Shah are set to compete in the men’s 50m freestyle, while Dhanush Suresh will take part in the 100m breaststroke.
Sunil Kumar Gowda and Vedaant Mahadevan will represent India in the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay.
India are looking to end a long wait for a swimming medal at the Asian Games. The country’s last swimming podium finish came at the 2014 Incheon Games, where Sandeep Sejwal won bronze in the men’s 50m breaststroke.
Indian swimmers returned without a medal from the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, although they managed to set six national records during the competition.
With several events still remaining in the Aichi-Nagoya swimming programme, India will hope Das and the rest of the squad can mount a stronger challenge in the upcoming races.
