Rutuja clinches gold; Srihari sets two new records
BENGALURU: Olympian Virdhawal Khade's wife Rutuja won the gold in women's 100m freestyle even as Jain University completed their domination in the pool with a rich haul of 14 gold medals powered by Srihari Nataraj (six gold, 1 silver) and Siva Sridhar who ended with seven gold and two silver. With 85 points, the Jain men claimed the team championship, while University of Mumbai bagged the women's honour.
Rutuja, representing Shivaji University, won in a new meet record time of 1:00. 81s, erasing Sadhvi Dhuri's record set in 2020. On Thursday, Sadhvi (Savitribai Phule Pune University) settled for the second place in 1:01. 93 while Aarti Patil of Mumbai won the bronze medal.
"This is my first and last KIUG and I'm happy with my performance. As my first competition of the year, this was a like a trial for as I prepare to make the team for the Asian Games," Rutuja, an MCom student trained by Veerdhawal Khade told TOI. For the Asiad, Rutuja said she would focus on the 50m butterfly and 4x100m freestyle relay.
Olympian Nataraj added two more gold medals in the 100m freestyle and 50m backstroke setting new records. In 50m backstroke, he beat back the challenge from teammate Siva. In boxing, Muskan continued her fine run in the final as he pummelled Rekha of Indira Gandhi University for a 5-0 verdict in the women's 57-60kg final. World Youth C'ship gold medallist Vinka bagged the bronze.
Select results:
Hockey: Men: Pool A: Bangalore University 1 (Shamanth CS 28) bt Savitribai Phule University 0. Pool B: Bangalore City University 3 (Harish Mutagar 29, 32, 36) bt VBS Purvanchal University, Jaunpur 2 (Vijendra Singh 18, Nitish Neupane 47). Swimming: Women: 100m FS: 1. Rujuta Khade
