Maana, who qualified for the Games via a "Universality quota" that allows one male and one female competitor from a country to participate in the Olympics, had finished 39th overall in the women's 100m backstroke. Had Nataraj matched his personal best in his event he would have qualified for the semifinals. Both Prakash and Nataraj had raised everyone's expectations in the run up to Tokyo Games by consistently shaving off time from their personal best. Nataraj, competing in his first Olympics, was ranked 27 among the 40 swimmers in the 100m backstroke. Prakash, who became the first Indian ever to breach the Olympic 'A' qualification mark last month to qualify for the Tokyo Games, had finished 24th overall in the 200m butterfly, his pet event, on Monday. All three Indian swimmers - Prakash, Srihari Nataraj, and Maana Patel - head home after disappointing show, failing to even match their personal best times in their main events. The 27-year-old from Kerala, finished 46th among 55 swimmers. Prakash, who also competed in the 2016 Rio Olympics, finished second in the second-slowest heat with a time of 53.45s. So it’s definitely a very proud moment for all of us.TOKYO: Swimmer Sajan Prakash finished second in his Heat but that was not enough to advance the semifinals of the men's 100m butterfly event as India's underwhelming campaign at the Tokyo Olympics ended here on Thursday. I think he was able to train here without any constraints. “I think the support we gave him helped him emotionally and he was at peace mentally while trying to qualify for the Olympics. When I spoke to him today, he said, ‘I am so happy for all the support that ANSA has given’. He used to come here for three months or four months.
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“While the other members of the team left after their training camp, Sajan decided to stay back with us because he found the facilities wonderful,” Viji Susan Mathew, Managing Director of ANSA, told Khaleej Times on Saturday. The 25-year-old, who finished a creditable fifth in the 200m butterfly event at the Asian Games. Prakash, who became the first Indian swimmer to qualify for the 200m butterfly final in 32 years at the Asian Games when he finished fifth in 2018 at Jakarta, came to Dubai to train with the Indian swimming squad last year. Rio 2016 Olympian swimmer Sajan Prakash is also facing a similar hardship. So it’s been a very emotional moment for us.” We have been getting lots of calls now from India, sports authorities, media. My wife took care of him like he is our own son. Here in Dubai, he has been staying with us. Dubai and ANSA offered him an amazing experience for him to train,” said Kumar, before revealing how his support for Prakash went beyond the role of a coach. And the support system from ANSA was fantastic. “It has helped him a lot because he could continue to train here in the Covid times. Kumar, who also has also been coaching swimmers at ANSA, says the training facilities in Dubai helped Prakash in his bid to qualify for Tokyo. So, you know, there is absolutely a sense of relief and great happiness,” Kumar told Khaleej Times over phone from Rome.
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“Today was the last day of qualification, today was his last chance. Indian coach Pradeep Kumar was delighted with the achievement of his ward.
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On Saturday, Prakash held his nerve to qualify for the Games for the second time in his career, having represented India at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
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Qualifying for the Olympics hasn’t been easy for the international swimmers with a slew of events getting postponed or cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Prakash earned his Olympic berth just six days after clinching the gold medal in the 200m butterfly race at the Belgrade Trophy. With the Covid-19 situation in India making it difficult for swimmers to prepare for the Summer Games, Prakash decided to move to the UAE last year and has been training at the Aqua Nation Sports Academy (ANSA) in Dubai since then.įinally, after a year of meticulous preparations, the 27-year-old swimmer from Idukki, Kerala, made the ‘A’ qualifying mark for Tokyo with a time of 1:56.38 in the 200m butterfly event at the Sette Colli Trophy in Rome. And Dubai had a big role in Prakash reaching the new landmark.