Likith bags 3 gold medals as Karnataka's domination of pool evident

Likith SP bagged three gold medals Monday as Karnataka swimmers dominated the pool to finish the penultimate day of the competition in the Khelo India Youth Games here with 10 medals including six golden finishes. 20-year-old Likith won 50m freestyle and 50 m breaststroke on Monday as well as playing a part in Karnataka's 4x100 freestyle relay victory, a media release said. Likith now has five gold medals in these Games.

Maharashtra bagged nine medals including two golds, while Tamil Nadu ended with six medals, two of each colour. Kushagra Rawat won Delhi's solitary gold today in Boys U-21 1500m freestyle in 15.59.06. Karnataka's gold rush started from the very first event, the 200m butterfly in the boys U-17 category in which Sanjay CJpipped favourite Bikram Changmai. Likith joined the gold hunt in the 50m freestyle. He pushed Goa's Xavier D'Souza to second place, the release said.

Likith returned to the pool for 50m breaststroke and claimed his second gold. In the GirlsU-21 section, Karnataka's Deeksha Rameshfoiled Maana Patel's (Gujarat) bid for the gold in the 50m freestyle. Karnataka's sixth gold came in the last event of the day when its U-21 boys quartet which included Likith, won the 4x100m freestyle in 3:37.68, the release added.

(With inputs from agencies.)