Aquatic C'ship: Akashdeep improves his performance

Anil Datt

Ludhiana, June 29

By clinching a bronze medal on the penultimate day of the 35th edition of the Sub-Junior and the 45th Junior National Aquatic Championship that concluded on Friday at Pune, local lad Akashdeep Singh improved his previous performance in the national competition.

On Thursday, Akashdeep had secured a bronze medal in the 200-m freestyle event in the boys’ group II, taking his individual tally to four. He took 2:01.59 minutes to finish at the third place. The first position holder, Shoan Ganguly of Goa, clocked 1:59.01 minutes, whereas silver medal winner Veer Khatkar from Haryana took 1:59.39 minutes to complete the event.

In the last edition of this championship, Akashdeep had won two bronze medals, in the 50-m and 100-m backstroke events.

Earlier, Akashdeep Singh clocked 2:12.09 minutes to pip his immediate opponents and annexed gold medal in the 200-m backstroke event. He secured two silver At present, Akashdeep Singh studies in the UAE, where his father runs a business. He attends coaching there under the guidance of Dronachariya awardee and national coach Pardeep Kumar.

During his stay in Ludhiana, Akashdeep attends coaching at the PAU under the supervision of Ajay Sharma.

Akashdeep has been performing consistently in the state championship for the last couple of years. In the recently held Junior Punjab Swimming and Water-Polo Championship held in Jalandhar, he bagged five gold medals besides one bronze medal. He also established three new meet records at Jalandhar to stamp his supremacy.

Meanwhile, another swimmer from Punjab, Jasnoor Kaur of Mohali made her presence felt at Pune, by winning a bronze medal in the 50-m freestyle event in the girls’ group-III.

Apinder Singh Grewal and Balraj Sharma, president and general secretary, respectively, of the Punjab Swimming Association appreciated Akashdeep and Jasnoor’s achievement. “This will motivate others to perform well in the aquatic competitions,” they said.