CWG: Swimmers Khade, Nataraj disappoint in semis

India's Virdhawal Khade and Srihari Nataraj disappointed with eighth place finishes in the men's 50 metre butterfly event and 100 metre backstroke event semi-final 2, respectively, of the 21st Commonwealth Games here on Thursday.

While Khade could not recover from a sedate start in lane 1 and finished last, clocking 24.50 seconds, Nataraj did not fare any better in lane 8, reacting to the gunshot at 0.70 seconds and finishing in 56.65 seconds.

In the 50 metre butterfly category, South Africa's Chad Le Clos, swimming in lane 4, topped with a finish of 23.53 seconds at the Optus Aquatic Centre.

Australian Mitch Larkin was first in the 100 metre backstroke event clocking 53.15.

Earlier, Khade, who competed in Heat 5 along with teammate Sajan Prakash, overcame a slow start in lane 6 to finish fifth, clocking 24.52 seconds to make the semifinals.

South African Ryan Coetzee, who swam next to the Indian, topped the heat with a time of 23.94.

The Maharashtra swimmer, making his international comeback after a long sabbatical, made a strong finish to pip teammate Prakash, who failed to capitalise on his flashy start.

In the end, Khade's timing was good enough to secure his place in the top 16 swimmers who advanced to semifinals from a total of 56 who competed across seven heats.

In the men's 100m Backstroke event, Nataraj also qualified for the semi-finals after clocking 56.71 seconds in the heats.

--IANS

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