BENGALURU, Aug 3: Over 600 budding swimmers from across 22 states will compete for top honours in the 51st Junior National Aquatic Championships starting here from Monday. Apart from swimming segments, competition will be held in both water polo and diving events. Fourteen teams in boys' section and seven teams in the girls' category will battle it out in water polo matches. The tournament, scheduled to conclude on August 8 here at the Basavangudi Aquatic Centre, will also be an ideal platform for swimmers to showcase their potential and make it to the National Talent Pool Program. Emphasizing on the importance of this competition, M Satish Kumar, Vice President of Swimming Federation of India (SFI), said, "This event showcases our best talent in the Junior age category, and we will be watching the performances of our swimmers closely in order to select outstanding swimmers and bring them into the National Talent Pool Program." Karnataka will be a frontrunner for medals in the championship and will field some top junior swimmers such as Ishaan Mehra, Vendanta VM, Hashika and Rujula. |