Swimmers Nataraj, Patel exit from Tokyo Games

Tokyo, July 25: Indian swimmers Srihari Nataraj and Maana Patel’s Olympic campaign came to an end as the two youngsters failed to qualify for the semifinals of their respective events here on Sunday.
Competing in their maiden Olympics, both swimmers were unable to match their personal best performances in the 100m backstroke events.
Srihari managed a time of 54.31s to finish his men’s 100m backstroke heat in a creditable sixth place.
The 20-year-old has a personal best of 53.77s that he had clocked at the Sette Colli Trophy in Italy to qualify for the Tokyo Games in June. Overall, Srihari was ranked 27 among the 40 swimmers. The top 16 swimmers qualify for the semifinals.
On the other hand, Maana, finished with a time of 1.05.20 behind Zimbabwe’s Donata Katai, who clocked 1:02.73 while Grenada’s Kimberly Ince (1:10.24) finished third in the slowest heat.
The 21-year-old Indian, who qualified for the Games via a “Universality quota”, finished 39th overall. (PTI)