After finishing fifth in the qualifying rounds of the men's 100-meter backstroke event, Indian swimmer Srihari Nataraj advanced to the semifinals.
Srihari Nataraj, who was competing in Heat 4, finished third in his heat and fifth overall with a time of 54.68s.
Throughout the 100-meter race, he remained up with the majority of the field courtesy to a 0.56-second reaction time.
Srihari as the only Indian swimmer to advance to the semi-finals. Sajan Prakash and Kushagra Rawat, who both placed 14th overall were eliminated in the heats.
Sajan Prakash was eliminated from the 50m butterfly heats after finishing last with a time of 25.01s, and Kushagra Rawat finished eighth in the 400m freestyle heats with a time of 3:57.45s.
Although, both Sajan and Kushagra are still alive in the competition as they will compete in other events.
Srihari has excelled at the Khelo India University Games and other international competitions. He is a member of the Sports Ministry's Target Olympic Podium Scheme. The swimmer claimed that he was utilising the recent competitions as a proving ground for the CWG 2022.
On July 30, the 100m backstroke semifinals will begin at 1 AM IST.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)