Nagoya, September 20, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Indian swimmer Rishabh Das booked his place in the men’s 100m backstroke final at the Asian Games after finishing fifth overall in the heats with a timing of 54.85 seconds on Sunday.
Das finished third in Heat 3 to advance to Monday’s final, keeping India’s hopes alive in the event. He was 0.63 seconds behind second-placed Japanese swimmer Hidekazu Takehara, while China’s Asian record holder Xu Jiayu topped the overall standings in 52.63 seconds.
India’s Utkarsh Patil narrowly missed out on a place in the final. Patil clocked 56.19 seconds to finish sixth in his heat and 12th overall, leaving him as a reserve for the final.
India also endured a less encouraging outing in the men’s 100m freestyle heats. Rohit Benedicton finished fifth in Heat 5 with a timing of 50.25 seconds and was 12th overall, earning a reserve spot. Akash Mani finished eighth in the same heat in 50.85 seconds and failed to advance.
Elsewhere, India made a winning start in the women’s team event in table tennis, defeating Indonesia 3-0.
Sreeja Akula put India ahead in the opening match before Diya Chitale extended the lead with an 11-9, 11-8, 11-5 victory over Almaira Nebuchadnezzar.
Yashaswini Ghorpade then completed the clean sweep, defeating Citra Rasmi 12-10, 11-4, 11-4.
India will next face Singapore in their Group F encounter at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday.
There was disappointment for India in teqball, with the country ending its campaign without a medal. Quimcy Dsouza and Mohamed Anas Imran lost 2-0 to Vietnam’s Hoang Minh Tan Nguyen and Gia Nghi Trinh in the mixed doubles bronze-medal match.
Dsouza had earlier suffered a 2-0 defeat to Japan’s Yuina Sakamoto in the women’s singles bronze-medal playoff.
With Das through to the 100m backstroke final, Indian swimming will have another opportunity to challenge for honours when the event resumes on Monday.
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