Did Rohit Benedicton Break the National Record as India Starts Strong at the World University Games?

New Delhi, July 17 (NationPress) India's journey at the World University Games in Germany commenced with a mixed bag on Thursday. The highlight of the day was teenage swimmer Rohit Benedicton, who stunned everyone by breaking a national record in the men’s 50m butterfly event, while other Indian athletes faced challenges in various sports.

The 19-year-old swimmer recorded an impressive time of 24.00 seconds, securing the 12th position overall and advancing to the semifinals. This achievement surpassed the previous national record of 24.09 seconds, set by Olympian Virdhawal Khade in 2018. Rohit continues to make headlines, having recently broken Khade’s record in the 100m butterfly with a time of 52.57 seconds at the National Aquatics Championships in Bhubaneswar.

On the opening day, Rohit was the only Indian swimmer to progress to the next round. Meanwhile, the Indian badminton team kicked off their campaign with an impressive 5-0 victory against Macau in the mixed team event. The men’s doubles team of Saneeth Dayanand and Sathish Kumar Karunakaran set a strong precedent by defeating Chi Chon Pui and Kok Weng Ving in straight games. Devika Sihag followed suit with a decisive win in women’s singles over Chi Wa Pui. Saneeth returned to win his singles match against Fei Long, and the women’s doubles pair of Tasnim Mir and Varshini Viswanath triumphed over Sam Kio Ieong and Wai Kei Wang. The mixed doubles duo of Karunakaran and Vaishnavi Khadkekar completed the sweep against the Macau team.

In fencing, India faced a tougher path, with only Abhay Shinde reaching the knockout stage in his category before narrowly losing to Spain’s competitor 13-15 in the round of 64. In women’s epee, Mitva Chaudhari was eliminated in the round-of-32 by Germany’s Alexandra Zittel with a score of 11-15, while other Indian fencers did not progress further. In taekwondo, the mixed pairs poomsae duo of Yash Malinda and Ritu Yadav were eliminated in the round-of-16, losing 8.932-8.433 to their Chinese opponents.

The tennis courts proved challenging for Indian players, with Kabir Hans narrowly losing to Uzbekistan’s Maksim Shin in a close match, 2-6, 6-4, 4-6. Shashank Macherla suffered a heavier defeat against Switzerland’s Luca Staheli, losing 0-6, 1-6. The Indian women’s volleyball team faced their second consecutive defeat against a strong Polish team, falling in straight sets: 15-25, 13-25, 15-25.

With two losses, the volleyball team’s chances of advancing have significantly diminished. The men’s and women’s table tennis teams are set to kick off their respective campaigns later today, with the women facing Romania in Group 5 and the men scheduled to play Japan in Group 3.