City lad secures silver medal on Day 1

Anil Datt

Ludhiana, June 24

City lad Akashdeep Singh brought fame to his parents and the state, when he clinched a silver medal in the 35th edition of the Sub-Junior National Aquatic Championship that commenced at Pune on Sunday.

Akashdeep clocked 1:04.23 minutes to secure a silver medal in the 100m backstroke event. Sahil Laskar of West Bengal took 1:03.22 minutes to annex the gold medal, while Jaswanth Y Reddy from Telengana with timings of 1:04.61 minutes finished at the third place to be content with the bronze medal.

Akashdeep had won five gold medals in addition to establishing three new meet records in the 43rd Junior Punjab Swimming and Water-Polo Championship held at Sports School Swimming Pool, Jalandhar, from June 8 to 10.

His performance in this championship was taken into consideration while finalising the Punjab squads for the national championship and he justified his selection on the opening day of the competition.

Apinder Singh Grewal, president of the Punjab Swimming Association and general secretary Balraj Sharma appreciated Akashdeep’s achievement. They also congratulated his coach Ajay Sharma and wished Akashdeep more success.