Virdhawal Khade beat Rio Olympics champion and local favourite Joseph Schooling to win the men’s 100-metre freestyle gold medal at the Singapore National Swimming Championships on Friday. Schooling was an Olympic champion in the 100-metre butterfly event in the Rio Olympics.
Khade, 26, who clocked 50.26 seconds, finished ahead of William Yang of Swimming New South Wales (50.37s) and Schooling (50.26). Khade also grabbed a creditable silver medal in the 50-metre freestyle event with a timing of 22.68 seconds even as compatriot Aaron Agnel D’souza crashed out in the semi-finals.
Khade’s compatriots also put on a good show with Sandeep Sejwal clinching the gold medal in men’s 50-metre breaststroke event. Advait Page, 17, broke the national record by 20 seconds in the men’s 1,500-metre race.
Competing against a host of international swimmers, Sejwal broke the Singapore meet record with a timing of 27:59 seconds to win the gold. He bettered his own time of 27.68 seconds in the semi-final by 0.09 seconds.
The 29-year-old had also won the silver in the men’s 100-metre breaststroke on Thursday in 1:02 seconds. Khade, who was swimming back-to-back 50m butterfly and 50m freestyle events missed out on qualifying for the final of the 50-metre butterfly.
The 26-year-old, who beat Olympic champion Joseph Schooling to clinch the gold in men’s 100-metre freestyle event on Friday, finished third behind Australia’s Marks Edward and Mathew Temple in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Karnataka’s Arvind Mani also found a spot on the podium, grabbing the bronze in the men’s 50-metre backstroke event. Meanwhile, Aditi Dhumatkar and Divya Satija failed to progress beyond the preliminary rounds of the women’s 50-metre freestyle and 50-metre butterfly events respectively.
(With inputs from PTI)
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