Jakarta: Indian swimmer Virdhawal Khade missed out on a medal by a narrow margin as he finished fourth in the men’s 50 metre freestyle final at the Asian Games here Tuesday. Khade clocked a time of 22.47 seconds which was a mere .01 second slower than Japan’s Shunichi Nakao who took the bronze. Yu Hexin of China won the gold medal with a time of 22.11 seconds. The silver medal went to Japan as well with Katsumi Nakamura clocking 22.20 seconds.
Earlier in the day, Khade bettered his long-standing national record to get qualify for the finals.
Khade, who won a bronze at the Guangzhou Games in 2010, faced stiff competition from Japan’s Shunichi Nakao (22.62) but emerged the fastest in the eight-man heat 5. It was new national record in 50m freestyle as he bettered his own mark of 22.52, set in August 2009 at Asian Age group swimming championships in Japan.
On bettering his own national mark and improving upon his timing from CWG, the 26-year-old said, “I have worked on strength and fitness since January with my coach in Bangalore. I have improved since January in every competition. Regular competition has helped me.”