Srihari Nataraj Betters His 'Best Indian Time' At World University Games

Last Updated:July 18, 2025, 20:40 IST

Srihari Nataraj reached the 200m freestyle semifinals at the World University Games.

Indian swimmer Srihari Nataraj (PTI)

Swimmer Srihari Nataraj improved his ‘Best Indian Time’ in the 200m freestyle to advance to the semifinals, while the women’s table tennis team overcame the Netherlands to secure a round-of-16 spot. In contrast, the shuttlers lost to Hong Kong in the mixed team event on day two of the World University Games in the Rhine-Ruhr region of Germany on Friday.

Two-time Olympian Nataraj, 24, clocked 1:48.22 seconds, topping his heats and surpassing his previous mark of 1:48.66 set last month at the Singapore National Swimming Championships. The Bengaluru swimmer qualified fifth overall for the semifinals scheduled later on Friday.

How Indians Performed At World University Games?

The women’s table tennis players lost the opening rubber but bounced back to defeat the Netherlands 3-1 in Group 5. Sayali Wani lost the opener to Men Shuohan 11-13, 7-11, 11-3, 3-11 before Taneesha Kotecha beat Emine Ernst 11-6, 8-11, 11-4, 11-3. Pritha Vartikar then overcame Karlijn van Lierop 7-11, 11-2, 11-4, 9-11, 11-6, and Taneesha wrapped it up by beating Shuohan 12-10, 13-11, 11-7. On Thursday, the women had lost their opening round match to Romania 2-3.

The men’s table tennis team defeated Colombia 3-2 in Group 3. Devarsh Vaghela lost to Camilo Gonzalez 7-11, 5-11, 8-11, before Ayaz Murad brought India level by defeating Juan Uribe 11-9, 11-7, 13-11. Harkunwar Singh gave India a 2-1 lead by beating Nicolas Gonzalez 11-7, 11-5, 11-6, but Colombia levelled again with Camilo overcoming Murad 11-8, 11-5, 11-9. In the decider, Vaghela defeated Uribe 6-11, 13-11, 11-6, 11-9. They will face powerhouse China in the Round of 16 later in the day.

In badminton mixed team, India fought hard but lost to higher-ranked Hong Kong 2-3 in Group F. They had blanked Macau 5-0 in the first round on Thursday. Saneeth Dayanand defeated Che Wang Joshua 15-8, 15-4, but Devika Sihag lost to Saloni Mehta of Hong Kong 12-15, 15-6, 7-15. The men’s doubles pair of Saneeth Dayanand and Sathish Kumar Karunakaran then gave India the lead by beating the Shing Hei-Lau Sin Hei pair 16-14, 15-13. However, Hong Kong won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles to clinch the rubber.

In tennis, Anjali Rathi defeated Christiana Owomuhangi of Uganda 6-0, 6-0 to advance to the women’s singles round of 32, while Vaishnavi Adkar also progressed by beating Jolien Maria Xenia Geels of the Netherlands 6-1, 6-0. In the men’s doubles round of 32, Kabir Hans and Maan Kesharwani beat the Thai pair Taentawan Majoli and Suphawat Sae-Oui 6-1, 6-1.

In swimming, while Srihari made the semifinal grade, fellow Indian Aneesh Gowda finished fifth in his heats, clocking 1:52.42 and missing the cut. In the 400m individual medley, Bhavya and Shrungi finished 20th and 19th respectively in a 21-swimmer field. Shrungi clocked 5:16.90 while Bhavya timed 5:17.62 in the heats, missing the finals.

In fencing (men’s individual epee), Balram Joshi beat Chinese Taipei’s Hsiang Ching Wu 15-12 in the table of 128, before losing to American fencer Diego Calderon 5-15 in the table of 64.

(With inputs from PTI)

Ritayan Basu

Ritayan Basu, Senior Sub-Editor, Sports at News18.com. Has been covering domestic and and international football for nearly a decade. Has played and covered badminton. Ocassionally writes on cricket content, ha...Read More

Ritayan Basu, Senior Sub-Editor, Sports at News18.com. Has been covering domestic and and international football for nearly a decade. Has played and covered badminton. Ocassionally writes on cricket content, ha...

Read More

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News sports Srihari Nataraj Betters His 'Best Indian Time' At World University Games