Srihari Nataraj Advances to Semifinals While Sajan Prakash Exits Early at Commonwealth Games

Nataraj Shines in 100m Backstroke

In the Commonwealth Games swimming events held on Tuesday, India's Srihari Nataraj successfully advanced to the semifinals of the 100m backstroke. He secured fifth place in his heat and finished 13th overall with a time of 55.58 seconds. The top 16 swimmers from the preliminary rounds qualify for the next stage, with semifinals scheduled for later in the evening.

Nataraj recorded a split time of 26.26 seconds at the halfway mark and holds a personal best of 53.77 seconds, which is also the national record he set in 2021.

Sajan Prakash's Disappointing Performance

Conversely, veteran swimmer Sajan Prakash was unable to progress past the heats in the 50m butterfly event. He finished eighth in his heat and placed 28th overall, clocking in at 24.94 seconds, which fell short of his personal best of 23.83 seconds, a national record.

The 32-year-old, who competed in the ninth and final heat, had previously struggled in the 200m butterfly finals on Monday, where he finished last with a time of 1:58.05 seconds, again below his personal best of 1:56.38 seconds.

Nataraj's Relay Team Performance

Nataraj, also a two-time Olympian, was part of the Indian men's 4x200m freestyle relay team, which unfortunately did not convert a promising qualification into a medal, finishing sixth in the final on Monday.

Historically, Prasanta Karmakar remains the only Indian swimmer to have earned a medal at the Commonwealth Games, securing a bronze in the 50m freestyle S9 para event during the 2010 New Delhi Games.